New West Symphony

What better way to celebrate Leonard Bernstein's 100th birthday than by a concert of his music conducted by his long-time friend and associate John Mauceri. Not since Bernstein has anyone been as good at playing the music and telling the story.behind it. The elegant and audience friendly VPAC was an ideal setting for this thoroughly enjoyable presentation.

John always does a good job of giving some of the background story. Which adds a great meaning and more dimension. The songs were a mixed bag for us. Favorite selection was the West Side story. It was interesting to hear some of the others, which we never heard before. But some did not hit a good chord with us.

Enjoyed the show as Mauceri is a great conductor and he explains everything to the audience. Bernstein music is also great. But was disappointed that Davis Gaines did not have a bigger part and did not sing the music from West Side Story. I am a huge Davis Gaines fan and this was not enough for me.

Buster Keaton's classic movie, The General, was great. What was not so great was listening to actor Jamie Farr talk about his career for 30 minutes before the movie was screened. This Jamie Farr appearance was not on the schedule of events. I have nothing against Jamie Farr, some of what he had to say was interesting... but any connection to Buster Keaton and this movie was a mystery. It was really a 40 minute delay to being able to enjoy this movie properly (there was a 10 minute break after Jamie Farr) I think many others in the theater were thinking the very same thing... Thirty minutes of Jamie Farr? Really? Without this delay would have been a 5 Stars rating.

In a silent film the orchestra should be the accompanist to the Star of the show which is the FILM. In this production the overbearing, over loud orchestra dominated the film. Too bad both the film and the orchestra suffered.

Every experience at VPC has been intimate & memorable. This night was proving to be just that after the charming time with Jamie Farr. However, the actual subject of The General was unfortunate. No matter how much you tell me about his comic genius, I can't get past that this story glorified a dark time in U.S. history...deliberately. Per the notes, Keaton changed the story to portray the hero to be confederate 'spy.'

Even for first time silent film viewers this is extremely entertaining.

We enjoyed the talk beforehand. The concert itself was fabulous. The conductor has so much energy and puts so much feeling into it. It was neat how the instruments came came in gradually. (We had seen the Hayden peice where they leave gradually, and then saw in the program that this inspired this more modern piece.) The paino was phenomenal. It was nice she did an encore. We loved the Symphonic dances from West Side Story. They were so dramatic.

Very well done. Great range of musical genres and exhibiited the talents of all members of the group.

This was the first time I had ever gone to the symphony and it was very impressive. The new west gang did a great job as did the conductor. I was somewhat disappointed that the seats are cramped and uncomfortable. But the music made up for it Audio in Civic Arts was really good. I will go again soon.

The performance was beautiful. Phillips was extraordinary! The music touched my heart. I will go see again.

I'm comparing this concert with another performance of the Carmina Burana, also with the New West Symphony my husband and I attended some years ago, which was a stellar performance I would have rated amazing. This was just average - we enjoyed it because the Carmina is always a "powerhouse", apart from that we thought that the baritone lacked volume. Also, the soloist used text books, which was not done in the previous performance. This obstructed their facial expression and mimicry which is part of certain songs in the Carmina which requires a small amount of acting, which was completely absent. Fairly long pauses between the individual parts which is not common (I have several CD's of the work). I also felt that the choruses lacked a bit of strength and enthusiasm. Our seats did not help - they were in the "pit" (3rd row) which I do not recommend to anybody. Only front part of stage are visible and the sound is just not the same. Did not like the "begging" at the beginning of the concert, gives it a provincial small town feeling not suited to such a nice theatre.

New West Symphony, New West Choir and Los Robles Children's Choir are all excellent!

What an outstanding performance. My family enjoyed this great night-out very much