By Owen Bryant
The Reno Chamber Orchestra is back in full swing with their 2023-24 concert season, having given their second performance this past weekend. In two performances over Saturday and Sunday, the RCO delivered “The Stories We Tell,” a collection of pieces of different periods and genres all focused on the art of storytelling through music.
The first piece in the repertoire was “Artemis,” a 1982 composition by Kevin Lau. The Greek hunter-goddess is brought to life in three parts.
First is “The Hunt,” a fast-paced, galloping movement driven by throbbing drums that transported me right into the chase. That movement segues into the Interlude, “In the Pale Moonlight,” – which evokes all the wistful mystery the moon conjures.
The final part, “The Dance of Artemis,” brings back the drums, but this time less frantic and more joyful sounding, closing the piece in celebration of the ancient deity. The entire piece was quick and precise, opening the concert with a literal bang.
The second piece brought something more unusual to the RCO repertoire. “The Mountain that Loved a Bird,” by Caroline Shaw and also from 1982, featured the orchestra and narrator Catherine Beeson, who told the story of a lonely mountain that falls in love with a bird named Joy. Accompanied by visual animations by students of the Truckee Meadows Community College Graphic Arts and Media Technology program, the ensemble revealed the journey of Joy to bring company and life to her mountain soulmate.
The spoken word and the animations upstaged the music a bit, but it was a neat experience to see the orchestra share the stage in such a way to tell such a lovely story. Special recognition goes to guest conductor Sara Aldana.
After intermission is when the big guns came out. This time around, opera was the chosen genre, specifically, highlights from Rossini’s “La Cenerentola,” a 19th century version of the “Cinderella” story. After the overture, featured soloists Megan Moore and David Portillo knocked it out of the park with a duet, “Un soave non so che,” followed by an instrumental “storm” sequence.
For the soloists’ final two arias , they were joined by members of the Nevada Gay Men’s Chorus and a few other guest singers to play the rest of the characters in the final scenes. Both Moore and Portillo performed their arias with exceptional bravado and received a well-deserved standing ovation.
While previous RCO seasons have offered phenomenal programs, “The Stories We Tell” changed things up a little bit and it was refreshing. It may not have been quite the right cup of tea for those desiring traditional repertoire, but I enjoy it when they step outside their box and try new things. I’m looking forward to the rest of their season going into the new year.
