But rest assured, the NCCO hasn’t suddenly gone conservative. The program may consist of standards, though, as Music Director Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg notes, they’re all “standards with a twist.” What makes them so different? In large part, it’s the arrangements and transcriptions, which recast the original configurations for these pieces. Salerno-Sonnenberg explains that the search for new transcriptions of older works “stems originally from my desire to expand the string orchestra repertoire. Although, for example, there are over 120 arrangements of Pictures [at an Exhibition], there isn’t one for this particular instrumentation.” A more personal impulse also guided her programming, she says, as “There are certain works that I simply want to play with this amazing ensemble, and are kind of true to my character.”
Pairing Bach with Mussorgsky embodies the orchestra’s devotion to fresh interpretations of established repertory, but it also speaks to a distinctive effort by Salerno-Sonnenberg to deepen her own connection to this ensemble, as she begins her second year as music director.
"This entire concert could be called "Music you have no business playing," jokes Salerno Sonnenberg. "Nothing on the program is written for our grouping. You have this Bach Chaconne, which is a huge piece, but written for one violin [originally], so no we're going to hear it grand. And then Bach's D Minor Concerto is just fiendishly hard — well, it's a piano concerto. They forgot to transcribe it. So you don't hear violins playing that piece a lot. And then, here you go, let's see what New Century is going to do with Pictures."
She breathes enthusiasm about Clarice Assad's new arrangement of Pictures.. "All you need is a good arranger and a little imagination and anything is possible," she says. Determined to expand the string orchestra repertory in unusual directions, she never worries about Ravel's shadow. "This orchestra can play it. Whatever the issue is — whether it's style or technical — we can do it. And that gives you great confidence."
"I've been studying this score and, trust me, it's fantastic. I was speaking to the arranger, and of course her challenge was 'how can I outdo Ravel.' And of course, you can't. I told her, 'Don't think about that. Focus on the picture — the actual painting.' So she started to research and came up with instruments that were played during that time. Like "The Old Castle," one of the movements, is subtitled "the troubadour sings at the gate of an old castle." And there were percussion instruments that were used during that time that are not used in the Ravel. But we're using them." Along with the percussionist, there's a pianist in the arrangement, and the strings.
While you’re waiting for September to roll around, get your New Century fix with a brand-new recording, Together, just released on Aug. 11, and which SFCV termed “a marvelous CD that should help propel the NCCO into the national spotlight.” (See review.) The ensemble’s first recording project under Salerno-Sonnenberg’s leadership, this CD juxtaposes Astor Piazzolla’s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, with Assad’s Impressions: Suite for Chamber Orchestra — Brazilian composers far removed from the worlds of Bach and Mussorgsky, yet true to the ensemble’s eclectic spirit.