Sublime Artistry From Canton Symphony Soloists
By Tom Wachunas
What is it about
witnessing a live performance of orchestral music that makes it so uniquely…magical?
While the advanced technology of digital recordings these days can certainly
produce thoroughly engaging aural
experiences, there’s still much to recommend the notion that seeing is believing.
So it is that the eclectic program, conducted
by Gerhardt Zimmermann for the November 2 performance by the Canton Symphony
Orchestra (CSO) at Umstattdt Performing Arts Hall, was specifically designed to
spotlight various soloists from the ensemble - to let them literally stand and
be seen as they soared. And that they did with astonishing technical and
interpretive finesse.
Featured in
Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Violins in a minor, No. 8, were CSO first violinist
Rachel Sandman and principal second violinist Solomon Liang. From the
propulsive episodes of the first movement and through to the ebullient finale,
their shimmering, warm tonalities were nothing short of hypnotic. The
interweaving of their respective turns leading and accompanying, particularly
in the plaintive solemnity of the central movement with its high lyrical melody
lines, was seamless. Throughout the work, they played with inspired unity of
purpose, making all the more palpable an
uncanny sense of completing each other’s lyrical sentences.
That same
sensibility was clearly evident among the soloists for the remainder of the
program. CSO Concertmaster Justine Lamb-Budge was joined by principal flutist
Katherine DeJongh and harpsichordist Parker Ramsey for Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5. While the
soloists certainly performed with all the virtuosic grace and vigor that Bach
invested in the work, the overall presentation here was not without its
problematic moments. Beyond the too-slow tempo of the third movement, casting a
somewhat sterile pall over the ensemble, there was the more significant
challenge of hearing the harpsichord, a major component in this work. At issue
was the instrument itself. Its sound was often so diaphanous as to be nearly
inaudible in the mix with other instruments. Still, during the monumental (65
bars!) harpsichord cadenza in the first movement, the audience was bedazzled
enough. We even seemed to have stopped breathing as we leaned forward to savor
Ramsey’s riveting dexterity.
The marvelous
playing by flutist DeJongh, Meghan Guegold (principal French horn), Terry
Orcutt (principal oboe) and Todd Jelen (principal bassoon) combined for a tour-de-force
of brilliant expressivity in Sinfonia
Cocertante For Winds in E-Flat Major, a work credited to Mozart, though historians
still speculate as to whether or not it is wholly a Mozart composition. In any
case, aside from sheer technical prowess, the operative word here was playing, and with jubilant energy. The
quartet was situated in an arc across the middle of the stage, and watching the
frolicsome, lucid interplay among the musicians – seeing their nuanced, fluid cueing from one to the other through
many intricate arpeggios – was mesmerizing in itself.
The program
concluded on a more modern but equally mesmerizing note with Variaciones Concertantes (1953), a twelve-section work of remarkable
vitality by Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera. The slow, somewhat mournful
opening theme was established by harp and cello, forming the foundation for the
rich variations that followed. Those were crisply articulated here with emotive
intensity by a variety of instruments that act as characters in an unfolding
dance. They included animated sprints from the flute; shadowy accents from
clarinet, oboe and bassoon; a gripping viola solo; alternately electrifying and
serene interludes from the trumpet, trombone and horn; and a stunning melodic
whirlwind from the violin. After a strange yet beautiful pairing of harp with
double bass in a reprise of the main theme, the full ensemble followed with an
invigorating malambo, a competitive
gaucho dance that was a recurring element in Ginastera’s compositions.
The music finally built into a repetition of
notes that suggested the joyous thumping of feet amid exhilarating ensemble flourishes.
In all, a fitting end to a program that celebrated compelling instrumental
artistry.
PHOTO, left to
right: Solomon Liang, Terry Orcutt, Todd Jelen, Meghan Guegold, Gerhardt
Zimmermann, Katherine DeJongh, Justine Lamb-Budge, Rachel Sandman
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