‘Roll Over Amadeus’ gives horn player rare solo
Nicholas Caluori, a West Point Band horn player and the Hudson Valley Philharmonic’s principal horn, always tries to slows down and stay in the moment when he performs, whether it’s with an ensemble or solo.
“In this world where everything moves at crazy, accelerated pace, as a musician you can’t force forward time,” Caluori said.
On Saturday, March 23, Caluori will take on a rare solo, playing, Mozart’s “Horn Concerto, no.4, K.495, E-flat major” at the Bardavon as part of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic’s latest program, “Roll Over Amadeus,” featuring worls by Mozart and Beethoven.
“Horn is not featured in the front of an orchestra often. Usually it’s violins or a pianist,” Caluori said.
Caluori added that he looks forward to being part of a Mozart program.
“Just like the architects go back to Ancient Rome and Greece, musicians revert back to Bach, Beethoven and Mozart,” he said.
But he admitted classical music can be a bit of a tougher sell to the general population.
“The general population is like, ‘Classical music, whatever,’” he said.
A self-professed history buff, Caluori said he likes looking back to the 18th and early 19th century world these musicians lived in.
“Why was this music written? Why did they write this?” Caluori said.
He also said there’s a perception that Mozart’s music was really proper music, but, when someone looks at his original manuscripts, they discover he had a bit of a sense of humor. Caluori said Mozart wrote the particular piece he is performing for concerto horn soloist Josef Leutgeb.
A family friend of the Mozart’s, he was really wellknown as a horn vitouso, according to Caluori.
The 18th century was a fascinating time when famed people like George Washington wrote an abundance of letters and correspondence that still exist to this day, Caluori said. For musicians in Europe, it was a time where they could find gainful employment in orchestras in courts and elsewhere, he added.
Caluori also said live music is more novel than ever.
“You’re bringing the story to life,” he said. “It’s being interpreted right there. It’s being interpreted in the way it was designed to, which is live.”
At West Point, Caluori plays behind his wife, Nicole Caluori, the band’s principal horn. The couple studied together at Florida State University and later Southern Methodist University.
A West Point band job is highly sought after, with 30-100 applicants from all over the country for every job that opens up.
Caluori said his wife also played with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic until a few seasons ago, but, with three children, that proved to be too much.
Music runs deep in Caluori’s family. His father and uncle were horn players in the U.S. Army Band in Washington, D.C.
Caluori said his wife will also be serving as the first female drum major in the 202-year history of the vaunted military academy.
Returning to his solo, he said he’ll apply all the skills he learned doing solos during his time in undergraduate and graduate school. He added taht his prep requires preparing for not just his solo part, but for what the orchestra is doing.
“You have a conception on how you want things to sound, then you get to the gig and you have to be flexible,” he said “It can’t be one or two or black and white. It needs to be a shade of gray.”
Caluori said he has just three rehearsals to get everything tuned up before the show. Even those who don’t have a solo play a key role, he added.
“You have a double bass part that does not seem important. It is,” Caluori said.
Success on concert day comes down to musicians knowing their parts and the pieces, he said.
“Then, you have a work of art rather than a scattered painting,” Caluori said.
Hudson Valley Philharmonic Conductor Randall Craig Fleischer said he looks forward to the orchestra’s performance of Mozart’s “Symphony no. 25, K 183. (173dB), G minor.” it is perhaps best-known to the general public as a large part of the score for the movie “Amadeus.”
Fleischer said that represents the pop culture connection they try to tie into each show.
Warsaw-born violinist Ania Filochowska, who won the 2018 Hudson Valley Philharmonic String Competition, will also give a solo performance. Filochowska will play a Beethoven piece she won the competition with last year, Fleischer said.
“The string competition is kind of a big deal nationally, “Fleischer said. “People know about it and it pulls string players in from all over the world. It’s a moment in these kids lives.”
Fleischer also said they’re constantly advertising the competition, trying to get the best young players to join it. Students from elite schools such as the Julliard School, the Yale School of Music and the New England Conservatory are sought, he added.
“We’re in constant contact with string faculty, asking if their best players know about this competition,” Fleischer said.
Wwhile audiences for classical music have generally been in decline across the nation, the number of people entering the competition has gone up and the orchestra enjoys steady support in the community, he said.
“We’re not concerned about shrinking,” Fleischer said.
The remainder of the season includes a concert on April 13, featuring Bach’s “Mass in B Minor” and the “Mighty Hudson.” There is also one on May 4 that features works by Corigliano, Thorne, Mendelssohn and Peter Grimes set to projected images of the Hudson River by Jon Bowermaster.
For more information about the concerts, visit bardavon.org.