# New piece I heard at a concert - what do you think?



## adriesba (Dec 30, 2019)

I went to a concert earlier this month, and the orchestra played this piece called _Fenix _by Polina Nazaykinskaya. They posted a video of the performance:






The composer talks about the work at the beginning. The piece starts about 4 minutes in.

I was pleasantly surprised by the piece. For some reason though, the brass sounds bad.

What do you all think of the piece?


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

It was pleasant enough, but didn't break any new ground and never grabbed my attention. Tries to set a mood but doesn't know what to do with it. Lots of hard work goes into writing something that's 15 minutes long only to have its first - and probably last - performance. The orchestra doesn't help - clearly an amateur band with serious intonation issues, weak brass players who are insecure on entrances, and the distance recorded sound makes it all worse. The conductor tries to imbue some drama or something to little effect; all that arm waving is going to cause serious shoulder issues. Using a baton would help that and make the beat clearer for the musicians.


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## adriesba (Dec 30, 2019)

mbhaub said:


> It was pleasant enough, but didn't break any new ground and never grabbed my attention. Tries to set a mood but doesn't know what to do with it. Lots of hard work goes into writing something that's 15 minutes long only to have its first - and probably last - performance. The orchestra doesn't help - clearly an amateur band with serious intonation issues, weak brass players who are insecure on entrances, and the distance recorded sound makes it all worse. The conductor tries to imbue some drama or something to little effect; all that arm waving is going to cause serious shoulder issues. Using a baton would help that and make the beat clearer for the musicians.


I believe the work premiered in Albany last year. So this is the second performance or so. I don't remember the brass sounding that bad when I was there in person, but yes they sound awful in this video. IDK. 

I wish this would be performed by a better orchestra with better recording quality.


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## Hilarius (Mar 27, 2020)

Good characterization, mbhaub.
The first bars reminded me of the "empty quintas" with which Beethoven's 9th symphony begins - the first listeners believed the musicians were still attuning their instruments. In the case at hand the orchestra would be better if it had done so. 
I agree especially with "Tries to set a mood but doesn't know what to do with it", which reminds me of the Brucker epigone Martin Scherber - in his symphonies the tension rises by Bruckner-like soundscape but leads to nowhere:



Regards
Hilarius


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

I went to the composer's website - turn out Fenix is getting a lot of play time as is her other music. I've listened to something called Winter Bells twice now - it's fantastic! Very beautifully done - real tunes, modern scoring, tonal, not four bar phrased - very, very effective. Highly recommended. Thank you adriesba for posting - I'd never heard of her, but I sure want to know more. She has a symphony I'm going to listen to next. And the Winter Bells (done by the Yale Orchestra) is well recorded and well-played and what a difference it makes. I wish she could post a recording of Albany doing Fenix - that's one fine orchestra there!


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## adriesba (Dec 30, 2019)

mbhaub said:


> I went to the composer's website - turn out Fenix is getting a lot of play time as is her other music. I've listened to something called Winter Bells twice now - it's fantastic! Very beautifully done - real tunes, modern scoring, tonal, not four bar phrased - very, very effective. Highly recommended. Thank you adriesba for posting - I'd never heard of her, but I sure want to know more. She has a symphony I'm going to listen to next. And the Winter Bells (done by the Yale Orchestra) is well recorded and well-played and what a difference it makes. I wish she could post a recording of Albany doing Fenix - that's one fine orchestra there!


I also heard _Winter Bells_, performed by OSFL. From what I remember, I found it rather dull, but perhaps I need to hear it performed by some other orchestra. I didn't realize it was recorded. Was it released commercially?


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

No, it's on her website: http://polinacomposer.com/


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## adriesba (Dec 30, 2019)

mbhaub said:


> No, it's on her website: http://polinacomposer.com/


OK. Thank you.


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