Read Lawrence Cosentino’s entire review of Their Eyes Are Fireflies, David’s new concerto for trombone and orchestra for Ava Ordman, in the Lansing City Pulse.
The words ‘introspection’ and ‘trombone concerto’ are seldom heard together. Let’s work on that. Symphonic fireworks and cataclysms are great, but Thursday’s Lansing Symphony concert featured something very different — a profound meditation on life’s mysteries, issuing in low tones from a long metal tube…This was deeply personal music, very different from the flashy back-and-forth volleys that fill most violin or piano concertos. The pure, coppery tones curling out of Ordman’s instrument went up your back, into your neck and straight up the base of your brain…The music was constantly on the verge of resolving into a juicy melody or sweet series of chords — i.e., an easy answer — but it never did…It’s no wonder the seemingly archaic concerto form has lasted so long. It has evolved from a way to show off one musician’s virtuosity against a fancy backdrop to something much deeper – a perfect platform for playing out the relationship between a soul and the universe around it…The concerto itself is a fabulous mystery that deserves to be heard again.