Music I'm Listening to: Tracy Silverstein (and my son) with the Santa Rosa Symphony

Some photos from last night's Santa Rosa Symphony concert. Maestro Bruno Ferrandis conducted Prelude and Liebestad from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, The Dharma at Big Sur for Electric Violin, by John Adams, and Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky. Tracy Silverstein was the soloist on electric violin, Jacalyn Kreitzer (mezzo-soprano) was soloist in the Prokofiev, which also featured the Sonoma State University Symphonic Chorus. My son, Warren, played a solo piece before the concert Rhapsodie for Solo Clarinet, by Giacomo Miluccio (1928-1999) as part of an appeal for donations to support the Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Orchestra's upcoming European Tour, in June, which will take them to Salzburg, Vienna, and Budapest. The photo above shows Warren, Principal Clarinet of the Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Orchestra with his teacher, Roy Zajac, Principal Clarinet of the Santa Rosa Symphony. Below is Tracy Silverstein with his six-stringed electric violin.

Music I'm Listening To: Jean Ferrandis Joins the Santa Rosa Symphony (May 13, 2012)

I attended the Sunday, May 13 performance of a series of three concerts by the Santa Rosa Symphony conducted by Bruno Ferrandis, featuring the conductor's brother, Jean Ferrandis, on Flute. The program opened with Debussy's Jeux (poeme danse-ballet) for Orchestra. Ferrandis played the Mozart Flute Concerto No. 2 before intermission and Ibert's Concerto for Flute and Orchestra afterwards. The program ended with Ravel's La Valse (poeme choréographique) for Orchestra.

I had not heard Debussy's Jeux [meaning "games" or "play"] before. I can't say I much cared for it--or this performance of it, anyway. Debussy wrote the piece for a ballet conceived and choreographed by Nijinsky (now lost, apparently). The dance involved play--both literal (tennis) and figurative (flirting, erotic pursuit)--among three dancers, two women and a man, although Nijinsky's original idea was to use three men. According to the program notes, Debussy (once he agreed to take the commission) became interested in "the rapid moments of tennis and in erotic games of flirtation, pursuit, resistance, and yielding" and he is said to have tried to capture some of the feelings of change and discontinuity that characterize both types of play. Not having the dancing to turn to, however, the music seemed to me merely fretful and disjointed.

The Mozart concerto was something of a disappointment as well. It was competently played, I suppose, but lacked any real sparkle. Ferrandis (the soloist) seemed not fully engaged. The flute sounded thin and distant. The whole came across as rather bland, despite Ferrandis's exaggeration of the dynamics (Ferrandis, the conductor, that is). The Ibert, however,was nicely done--played with verve and enthusiasm. I got the feeling that Jean Ferrandis was much more in his element playing a modern French piece than playing the Mozart. Following the Ibert concerto, which the audience received with rather more enthusiasm than it did the first half of the program, Jean played an encore, which sounded like something from Debusy's Prelude to The Afternoon of  a Faun.

The Ravel was enjoyable but not wholly satisfying either. Ferrandis, the conductor, failed (in my opinion) to fully exploit the internal contrasts of the piece and he took the ending at what seemed an unnecessarily rapid and accelerating tempo.

Yesterday will have been my last concert in the Luther Burbank Center (or the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts as they insist on calling it). The Santa Rosa Symphony will start next season as the resident orchestra at the new Green Music Center. I very much look forward to hearing the new hall.

Photo of Jean Ferrandis (uncredited), from the Santa Rosa Symphony website. 

Music I'm Listening To: Santa Rosa Symphony, Jon Nakamatsu (May 8, 2011)

I attended an afternoon Santa Rosa Symphony concert today directed by Bruno Ferrandis with pianist Jon Nakamatsu as soloist in the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1. The scheduled program was all Russian music, but Ferrandis opened the concert with the "Nimrod" variation from Elgar's Enigma Variations, played in memory of Evert Person and Jess Jackson. Both were supporters of the Symphony and both died recently. The scheduled program began with Fairytale Poem, by contemporary composer Sofia Gubaidulina, followed by the Tchaikovsky concerto and then Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition after intermission.

I formed my impressions of the Gubaidulina piece before looking at the program notes. I had to laugh when I read through them. The music felt cinematic to me, but I was put in mind of 1950s science fiction rather than the animated subjects that are believed to have inspired the piece (it seems the composer has never really explained the precise meaning of the title). Apparently, Gubaidulina supported herself in the days of Soviet control of the arts by writing a great deal of music for films of all kinds, but apparently no science fiction. The program notes speak of "dangers lurking" but also of "cheerful adventure." I seem to have tuned in mostly to the dangers. The mood created seemed ominous to me, with quivering flutes and shimmering string tremolos particularly memorable. I half expected to hear a theremin emerge from somewhere toward the back of the stage--but no theremin was involved: Gubaidulina has drawn on conventional instruments to create a consistently interesting texture open to a variety of interpretations, it seems. The performers gave the impression of being well rehearsed today, right on top of the music, and very much in tune with the conductor. I enjoyed this very much. Gubaidulina is another composer I'll now be looking out for.

I must admit the Tchaikovsky piano concerto is not one of my favorite pieces of music, but it was a lot of fun to see it played, as it keeps both the soloist and the orchestra quite busy. Again the orchestra seemed in good form. Despite a couple of wobbly solo bits in the brass section and a rather hesitant-sounding flute at one point, the overall impression was solid, and Nakamatsu played very well. Nakamatsu got a standing ovation and a half out of his performance--the half standing ovation at the end of the first movement. Tchaikovsky sometimes had a way of making his music sound finished right in the middle (this piece and the Violin Concerto are good examples). While I don't mind people clapping after a particularly well-played movement, clearly some people thought the concerto had finished and it took a few moments for everyone to figure out why Nakamatsu remained seated and conductor Ferrandis continued to face the performers.

After intermission, Ferrandis led the Santa Rosa Symphony in Musssorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition in the version orchestrated by Ravel. As a teenager just getting interested in classical music, this is one of the pieces I first latched onto (like many other people). It is varied, colorful, and immediately accessible. Again the performers seemed in good form. Although Ferrandis took some of the slower sections at a rather faster tempo than I would have preferred, the overall effect was persuasive.  Taken as a whole, a satisfying concert.

Jon Nakamatsu photo by Christian Steiner.

Music I'm Listening to: The Santa Rosa Symphony with Bruno Ferrandis and Elina Vähälä (March 20, 2011)

I attended a Santa Rosa Symphony concert Sunday afternoon (March 20) conducted by Bruno Ferrandis. The program included Serious Song, by contemporary composer Wolfgang Rihm, Symphony No. 4 by Brahms, and the Brahms Violin Concerto, with soloist Elina Vähälä.

Overall, an enjoyable concert, but rather uneven, I'm afraid.

I did like the Rihm Serious Song. Immediately upon entering the concert hall it was apparent that something a little unusual was about to begin; there were no violins on stage--among the strings, only the violas, cellos, and basses were present. Also unusual was the presence of four clarinets at the front of the ensemble. I would say the piece didn't seem very song-like, but it was certainly serious. Opening with quavering dissonances among the four clarinets in the low register, the piece was dark and somber throughout with all the instruments mainly being given the lower notes in their ranges. No flutes either. According to the program notes, the piece was commissioned by conductor Wolfgang Swallisch who wanted a composition explicitly evoking Brahms. Composer Rihm was particularly impressed by the Four Serious Songs by Brahms and looked also to the example of the Deutches Requiem for the orchestration without the bright-sounding violins and flutes. To many I suspect this tone poem--that's what it seemed to be--will sound too abstract, too somber, too brooding, but it appealed to me. I applaud the inclusion of something rather different from the standard fare. It was a nice counterpoint to the very familiar pieces that followed.

In the Brahms Violin Concerto Soloist Vähälä played well, but seemed to have difficulty keeping her instrument in tune. I always hesitate to say things like that (not that anyone cares very much what I say) because I never trust my ears entirely, but I thought she was out of tune for about the first third of the first movement--a little bit sharp on at least one string. She tried to retune a couple of times using the fine adjustments at the bridge but finally resorted to turning one of the tuning pegs--a very risky thing to do while in the middle of playing, given the coarse adjustment the tuning peg provides. I'm persuaded that I was not mistaken about her difficulties by the extensive tuning she did between the first and second movements. Once she got things straightened out, everything sounded better.

Her instrument had a surprisingly strident sound. As it happens, that was rather effective in some of the rapid passages of double-stopping in the concerto, but otherwise it gave a cold and at times somewhat whiny impression. She was playing a 1678 Stradivarius. I am no expert, but I do know that that would be an early violin in Stradivari's career. Perhaps that has something to do with it? The second movement was marred by repeated wobbly entrances by at least one of the horns. Having said all that, I thought the Santa Rosa Symphony musicians focused and responding much better to Maestro Ferrandis's direction than usual, which is a good thing, and it's always interesting to hear such a familiar piece live. Despite the hiccups, I enjoyed hearing the concerto and the crowd--notably younger than is usual in Santa Rosa--was very appreciative.

The Fourth Symphony by Brahms is another very familiar piece, being one of the first I was attracted to during my shift as a teenager away from rock music in favor of classical. I'm afraid the ensemble wasn't quite up to it. The focus apparent during the violin concerto was nowhere apparent here. The players simply weren't together much of the time. Still, the ensemble has come very far in the 10 years I've been a subscriber to their concerts, and I mean no ill will. I'm glad they're here and I will continue to support them. At their best, they can be very fine indeed.

Photos of Bruno Ferrandis and Elina Vähälä courtesy of the Santa Rosa Symphony