Contrary to the atmosphere of most symphony concerts, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's "Symphony with a Splash- created a fun and easygoing setting. Both the conductor, Daniel Meyer, and host, Greg Sandow, encouraged clapping throughout the entire show including during the music. This crowd participation made for easy listening and enjoyment.
The concert opened with a familiar song by Ennio Morricone, "Childhood/Manhood,"" from the film "Cinema Paradiso."" This song can be recognized from a television ad for UPMC. Some people may agree with conductor Daniel Meyer when he said that "Childhood/Manhood- put them on the charts.
Also preformed in the first half of the show was Gioachino Rossini's "La Gazza Ladra [The Thieving Magpie]."" This song, like most form this show, was not written for a formal concert setting. The percussion parts in this song were amazing. They were loud and captivating, forcing the audience to listen and hang on every note.
With a similar feeling to the rest of this night's performances was the Scherzo from the Tenth Symphony by Dmitri Shostakovich. This song is similar because it was also not written for what people today believe is a formal concert. The Scherzo was written as a portrait of Joseph Stalin. The entire audience was able to feel the hatred toward Stalin through the tone of the music as well as the red lights that shined on the performers.
Other music performed at this concert includes music from Handel's "Music for the Royal Fireworks,"" Mozart's "Paris Symphony,"" Mahler's "Symphony Number 5", and Ravel's "Boléro."" Of all the music performed, my favorite was the Scherzo from Shostakovich's Symphony Number 10. I liked this piece the most because you could feel the song's force and power. Walking into this concert I was expecting to hear a lot of soft music. However, this was not the case. The concert was filled with lively and energetic music that forced people to listen.