To the Planets and Beyond

The Columbus Symphony on Saturday presented two very different programs although they titled the night "To the Planets and Beyond". The title referred to the second program, "The Planets, Op. 32" by British Composer Gustav Holst. Written in 1917, "The Planets" has seven movements describing seven planets.
One of the emerging trends in orchestra presentations is to couple the music with a video that visually describes the music. In this case, a large screen was dropped behind the orchestra and a video of either actual photos or animation of the planet was shown. Listening to the music gives you and idea of where whoever George Lukas got to do his music got their ideas. The first three planets, Mars, Venus, and Mercury depended mostly on actual photos and unfortunately, there's not that much variety in the landscape of any planet. Beginning with Jupiter, the film relied more on animation and was more interesting.
I should say that I think this idea of multi sensory programs is a good one, but the music was a little hard to follow and needed full attention which was hard with planets zooming by.
The first program of the night was the professional premiere of Joseph Packales' "Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, Op 101" with Columbus State University's Andre Gaskins. Packales was a close friend of orchestra Director George Del Gobbo and it was clear that he wanted to do this performance in honor of his friend-not always a good sign. The concerto was clearly written to give the Cello performer a chance to show his/her stuff and Gaskins was equal to the challenge. During the fast parts, Gaskins was aggressive and ripped the notes out, but he was particularly tentative at the beginning of some of the slower parts.
Columbus audiences are notorious for an unwillingness to explore most modern composing-particularly atonal material-but I heard relatively little griping. This Concerto had moments of real excitement but used a number of odd transitions which were disconcerting. Still, it should be given a wider audience particularly since Atlanta has one of the finest Cellists in the country.
Attendance in the orchestra section was spotty, reflecting the cold rainy weather, but the two balcony levels appeared to be full. There were a lot of parents with young children who attended because of the idea of "The Planets and beyond". Many of the children were asleep by the first intermission and missed the planets altogether. Still, the program was satisfying overall for those who were willing to engage themselves in the presentation.