Hartford Symphony Orchestra Masterworks Series Program No. 5 Strauss, Theofanidis, Chopin, Mendelssohn Thursday, Friday, Saturday, January 7, 8, 9, 2010 8:00 PM - Belding Theater, The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts Concert Preview, 7:00 PM, Belding Theater Sunday, January 10, 2010 at 3:00 PM, Belding Theater Concert Preview, 2:00 PM, Belding Theater Tito Munoz, guest conductor Donald Berman, piano www.hartfordsymphony.org Review by Donna Bailey-Thompson Ah youth, where is thy sting? Johann Strauss, Jr. was 41 when he composed On the Beautiful Blue Danube, Op. 314. in 1866. Christopher Theofanidis was 39 when he composed Piano Concerto in 2006. Frederic Chopin was 17 when he wrote Variations on "Give Me Your Hand" from Mozart's Don Giovanni in 1827. Felix Mendelssohn was 20 when he conceived his Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56, known as the "Scottish," but 33 by the time he completed it. And an initially skeptical audience who gave Guest Conductor Tito Munoz a dose of New England restraint capitulated by evening's end to rise to its feet and bring him back for three curtain calls before he became any older: he is 26. During his pre-concert talk, Munoz, the HSO's third Music Director Candidate, was a typical young man sharing information about where he was born and grew up (NYC, Queens), attended the high school made famous by "Fame" and also studied violin at Juilliard. During the summers of 2004-2006, he studied at Aspen's American Academy of Conducting and for the 2007 summer returned as the Aspen Music Festival's Assistant Conductor. Currently he is the Cleveland Orchestra's Assistant Conductor and previously was Assistant Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony. When he spoke of Mendelssohn's "Scottish" symphony, illustrating his words by playing recorded excerpts from the four movements, the boy disappeared under an invisible mantle of musician/conductor. From the first notes of On the Beautiful Blue Danube that opened the concert, this well-known piece underwent a metamorphosis. The delicate sounds whispered as if newly born. At times gentle, sprightly, a loveliness pervaded; judicious accents, even grace notes, enlivened. The tempo was brisk where appropriate; slight hesitations heightened renewed sweeps of waltzing. The purity of singing horns complemented the celebration of nature and movement. Following "Thus spake Zarathustra" at the opening of "2001 Space Odyssey," that Blue Danube should be replaced with the interpretation Munoz drew from the HSO orchestra - the most beautiful Blue Danube I've ever heard - clean, not drowning in soupy romanticism. The several minutes that elapsed while the grand piano was guided to center stage permitted ongoing savoring of the waltzing melodies before 20 minutes of Theofanidis' Piano Concerto (2006) pyrotechnic extravaganza was unleashed by the flashing finger dexterity of soloist Donald Berman. Written for Berman, energy begat energy. Often alarming, discordant, even spooky, the score was controlled by a master composer and performed by a superb technician. The relationship between the soloist and orchestra was tight, seamless. During the second movement there was a suggestion of Debussy's Children's Suite modified for adult consumption, a hint of Gershwin, and with the percussionist going delightfully nuts, even a suggestion that Tinkerbell was near. By the third movement, the concerto had breached shock and awe for fascination; with the fourth, there was a cohesiveness of related moments, and suddenly, a swoop worthy of a cathedral setting. The closing prompted wonderment, "What was that?" along with strong applause and a few bravos. Pianist Berman returned to honor Chopin's interpretation of Mozart's distinctive style demonstrating that (a) the young composer knew how to have fun and (b), the soloist was ready for anything Chopin concocted. The variations seemed endless, from somber to playful, much like Cyrano De Bergerac's taunting of Christian, "And behold when it bleeds, the Red Sea!" Following Intermission, Munoz conducted the "Scottish" with respect and authority. Presented with barely a pause between movements, the first featured lovely harmonies, some darker than others, perhaps Mendelssohn's musical interpretation of his youthful angst. During the second movement, the emotional coloring of folk songs were reminders of the happiness Mendelssohn experienced: the sun shone, the lassies were delightful, the laddies energetic. But at other times, as caught in the third movement, melancholia morphed into a dirge, but a fleeting presence of a major key indicated a willingness to climb out from sad thoughts. But there remained the impediment of internal struggle. Lo, a meadow bathed in sunlight promised respite. With the final movement, energy was renewed and the beauty imparted during the composer's Scotland summer triumphs. And, the audience stood, not for solely the "Scottish" but for the evening's body of work. During the pre-concert talk in response to a question, Munoz spoke of the dynamics inherent between conductor and orchestra, especially when a guest conductor and the resident orchestra meet: all have their agenda but what must evolve is coherent sound emanating from the same page. The performance demonstrated that a meeting of the minds was successfully negotiated. Once Munoz held the baton, he became a confidant musician of interest. With his youthful experience earned as assistant conductor of the Cincinnati and now the mighty Cleveland, his musical poise is legitimate. What will stay with me is the freshness of his Blue Danube, not through the altering of well-worn clothing but an accomplishment fashioned from a bolt of new cloth.

All rights reserved.
© The Arts, etc., Copyright 2010