Maestro Carlos Miguel Prieto with the North Carolina Symphony
RALEIGH, NC – The arts community in North Carolina is lucky enough to have world-renowned musicians right at their fingertips almost every weekend of the year. The North Carolina Symphony has certainly never been taken for granted and is never overlooked for its professionalism and brilliance. Last night marked the opening night of its 2024-2025 season featuring the magnificent Symphonie fantastique at Meymandi Concert Hall in downtown Raleigh. Conducted by Carlos Miguel Prieto, who put on a show entirely on his own, the evening held many surprises hiding behind the concert hall doors.
The two-and-a-half-hour evening began with a trip down to Mexico featuring the bright sounds of piccolos, flutes, oboes, horns, clarinets, trumpets, trombones, harps, piano, and maracas. Téenek – Invenciones de Territorio (translated to “Inventions of Territory”) brought composer Gabriela Ortiz‘s love for her home country of Mexico and its people to the stages of Raleigh. Rhythmic grooves and ascending strings invigorated audience members for a full twenty-five minutes, which went by so fast it really felt like two. By the end of the piece, we were reminded of how beautiful each unique culture the world holds truly is. As Ortiz mentioned profoundly in the program, “All of us belong to the same planet, all of us share the same land…it makes me think a lot about why we have borders between countries.” What a stunning and timely way to welcome the audience into the new season and give a taste of what the rest of the season holds.
With spirits high, the program led into Sergei Prokofiev‘s Violin Concerto No. 1 in D, Op. 19 led by renowned Canadian concert violinist James Ehnes. To receive Ehnes on Raleigh’s stages was truly a lucky gift. He stood front and center adjacent to Prieto for the entirety of the piece, holding at 1715 “Marsick” Stradivarius, which would eventually receive a very long-standing ovation and fruitful encore. The piece featured the sounds of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, trumpets, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, and strings, but Ehnes immediately hypnotized listeners with his performance on the solo violin. He clearly showed the brilliance that is Prokofiev, with intertwining melodies weaved through the entire performance which was cut into three movements – Andantino, Vivacissimo, and Allegro moderato. It was quite obvious Ehnes had captured the hearts of every seat in the concert hall, so he gifted the room with an encore of Maurice Ravel‘s 10-minute Tzigane, or “Gypsy.” The choice for the encore did feel to be a bit too long but received a very well-deserved standing ovation nonetheless.
After a brief intermission, the anticipation continued with the thought of hearing the final piece of the evening, Hector Berlioz‘s Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14. The symphony told the dramatic story of Berlioz falling in love, going mad, attempting to take his own life, and the dark thoughts that haunted him afterward. Through flutes, harps, clarinets, horns, trumpets, tubas, and more stunning instrumentals, the room was filled with emotions of naive love, anxiety, envy, jealousy, disappointment, and relief. The two harps stood out in the second movement and carried the piece to new heights with every string plucked. Naturally, another standing ovation took place with loud clapping and hollering heard from the far corners of Fayetteville Street.
Audience members were met with warm chocolate chip cookies handmade from local bakery Tiff’s Treats as they exited the concert hall. Chatter of the brilliance of Maestro Prieto, violinist Ehnes, and all the musicians in the orchestra this evening were spoken until car doors were open to head home. As the autumnal season creeps closer, and the Halloween holiday joins it, Symphonie fantastique was the most “fantastique” way to open the season and usher in another year of exceptional live music.
This concert repeats on 9/21 at Meymandi. See our calendar for details.
