Springfield Symphony Orchestra

Ives, Beethoven & Mozart

Saturday -- March 13, 2010

Kevin Rhodes, Music Director and Conductor

Sara Buechner, Piano

Ollie Watts Davis, Soprano

Mary Wilson, Soprano

Brad Diamond, Tenor

David Kravitz, Bass

Springfield Symphony Chorus - Nikki Stoia, Chorus Director

Reviewed by Donna Bailey-Thompson

Based upon non-high tech eyeballing of Symphony Hall, my impression is the audience for the pre-concert talks is growing. Given the increasingly fine performances by the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, this comes as no surprise. Still, given the uncertain economy, this growth is especially touching.

Maestro Kevin Rhodes, fresh from six weeks of making music in Europe strode onto the stage to a burst of applause. He was not casually dressed for the pre-concert talk but resplendent in white tie, ready to mount the podium; but first, he sat at the piano and shared his thoughts about the evening’s program – a musical dialog, a discourse, back and forth within the individual pieces as well as among the different works.

Composer Charles Ives (1874-1954), he told us, is considered to be the grandfather of American music. His ears were not overwhelmed by European musical inventions, he was “not confined only to style; he was avant garde and held in awe.” For example, Ives’ The Unanswered Question stipulated that the strings, woodwinds and trumpet occupy totally separate venues. The strings (representing druids who see and hear nothing) remained on the stage oblivious to a question posed by the woodwinds who were in the loge. The question was acknowledged by a lone trumpet in the Mahogany Room. In the meantime, I was surprised the softest pianissimo music ever had begun before it registered; surely the strings must have been playing meadow and forest floor and lichen music for unheard seconds, so soft and liquid their gentle bowing. Meanwhile, the woodwinds, after digesting whatever the trumpet imparted, raised its voice, slightly. The trumpet took its own sweet time to respond, its retort barely staying within civilized boundaries. The woodwinds were clearly agitated. I stayed with the subdued druids, relishing a reverie, gliding along with the pacifists to the strings’ sweet dissolving chords. I think the trumpet had the last word. Good for him. What was accomplished by the escalating dialog between woodwinds and trumpet? Let’s hope the injection of a different perspective induced reflection. As for the druids, they’ll remain impervious to existential angst. Ives’ however, created an innovational concept, and, perhaps unintentionally, a source for a dramatically abbreviated power refresher.

Rhodes told us that Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major is famous “for its unusual construction.” Instead of parroting the soloist, at times “the orchestra responds in a different key, introducing a different harmony, like the sun has broken through – a beautiful moment.” He also spoke of the soloist, Sara Buechner and her “dexterity, her crystal clear technique.” He said we were in for a treat. What an understatement! Ms. Buechner sat quietly at the piano, orchestra and audience in hushed expectancy. She placed her hands on the keys and began the concerto with a few notes played with soft-spoken confidence. After introducing the theme, the orchestra responded, and she returned her hands to her lap and waited several minutes for her next entrance. The dialog between soloist and orchestra seemed like an exchange of ideas, a well-matched intellectual conversation – conductor, soloist, orchestra – a compatible group. If Beethoven turned over in his grave it was because his concerto was being given a performance it deserved. Ms. Buechner’s technique was flawless. Early in the second movement, her playing of an exquisite, lyrical passage was music of the soul, and when that solo ended, she melded with the orchestra. Such smooth re-joinings were the rule, not exceptions. Ms. Buechner brought sensitivity and maturity to the piano and wonder to an audience that tried to transmit the depth of its appreciation through a clamorous ovation. May the scheduling gods smile on a return engagement – soon.

Maestro Rhodes told us that because Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor is in C minor, the music is “more expressive; with dissonances there is tension, drama, turbulence.” He also spoke of there being “many fugues.” His colloquial definition of a “fugue” was Row, Row, Row Your Boat “only more complicated.” Indeed! The Springfield Symphony Chorus, under the direction of Nikki Stoia, filled four tiered rows at the back of the stage. A quartet of soloists – Ollie Watts Davis, soprano; Mary Wilson, soprano; Brad Diamond, tenor; and David Kravitz, bass – plus the SSO filled Symphony Hall with Mozart’s triumph. The audience had two choices: surrender to the performance or surrender to the performance. In the program, Rhodes wrote, “...I hope you will understand me when I say this work is ‘incredible Mozart.’ I am excited beyond words to play this work for you so that we can all have this moment with something greater than ourselves.”

Yes, thank you – an outstanding, memorable evening.