The Binghamton Community Orchestra is bringing together a dark Czech fairy tale and one of the most beloved works in the cello repertoire for its upcoming concert.
Music director Evan Meccarello says the program features two contrasting works: Antonín Dvořák’s The Golden Spinning Wheel and Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto.
“We're having two wonderful works, contrasting works, a cello concerto and a fairytale,” Meccarello told WSKG’s Arts in Depth.
Dvořák’s The Golden Spinning Wheel is a roughly 30-minute orchestral tone poem based on a Czech folk tale. The story follows Dornicka, a young woman who falls in love with a prince but is murdered by her jealous stepmother and stepsister, who hope to take her place at the royal wedding.
Fortunately, a wizard intervenes, using magical means to bring Dornicka back to life and expose the deception.
Meccarello says the story is reminiscent of the darker versions of traditional fairy tales, before they were softened for popular entertainment.
“It's a story of a young woman who is deceived and hurt and through magical means brought back to life and in the end gets to marry the prince,” he said.
Dvořák composed the work late in his career, after completing his nine symphonies and spending several years in the United States. Back in Prague, he turned to Czech folklore for inspiration.
The composer uses musical themes associated with individual characters, allowing listeners to follow the story through the orchestra.
“You have little fragments of melody played by different instruments that seem to represent different characters,” Meccarello explained.
The prince is represented by hunting horns, while the bassoon suggests the evil stepmother. Woodwind instruments portray the young women, and other musical themes represent the castle and the helpful wizard.
Meccarello says Dvořák was influenced by Richard Wagner's use of recurring musical themes to represent characters and ideas.
The second half of the concert features Elgar's Cello Concerto, a work that has become a cornerstone of the cello repertoire despite a disappointing reception at its premiere in 1919.
The concerto's opening melody returns throughout the work, creating a musical thread connecting its four movements.
Meccarello says the music reflects Elgar's own emotional struggles in the years following World War I.
“He was the number one composer in England for a while, but at this point after the World War, his music was seen as old fashioned,” Meccarello said.
Elgar was also dealing with the devastation of the war and feelings of isolation. His wife's family had disapproved of their marriage, and the composer was increasingly out of step with the newer musical styles emerging around him.
Meccarello says those circumstances can be heard in the concerto's searching, melancholy character.
“We can feel in the pathos and in the worry and searching nature of this cello concerto,” he said.
The orchestra has invited cellist Michael Kaufman to perform the concerto. Kaufman is concertmaster of the Pasadena Symphony and also plays with the Los Angeles Opera.
Meccarello says the orchestra is fortunate to have an artist with Kaufman's experience bringing the work to Binghamton.
“He is an absolutely incredible player who is well versed in bringing all the characters of a story to light and to the audience,” Meccarello said.
The Binghamton Community Orchestra will perform Dvořák’s The Golden Spinning Wheel and Elgar’s Cello Concerto on Saturday, November 7, at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of West Middle School, just off Helen Street in Binghamton. A pre-concert talk begins at 6:15 p.m. For more information, visit binghamtoncommunityorchestra.org.