Springfield Symphony Orchestra

performing at

Symphony Hall

Court Square, Downtown Springfield MA

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 Beethoven and Brahms

Egmont Overture

Concerto for Violin & Orchestra

The Eroica

Kevin Rhodes, Music Director and Conductor

Rachel Barton Pine, violin

Saturday, January 29, 2011 at 8:00 PM

REVIEWED BY DONNA BAILEY-THOMPSON

At some point during the last 150 years, there began a chipping away at the notion classical music could be enjoyed by only those who were wealthy or highbrow or longhairs or a touch strange ("touched" for short, as in "He's a bit touched").  The trickle-down snob appeal was off-putting, contributing to an aversion to explore what all the stuffiness was about. Among the reasons this concert was particularly interesting was the program included two of the 19th century's most prestigious composers and that all of the above stereotypes were represented in the audience plus body piercings and the embedded fragrance lingering on a jacket of a controlled substance.

The two principals -- conductor and soloist -- demonstrated through their engaging mid-western personalities that it is possible to play grand, symphonic music so well that birds are charmed out of their trees as in Glenn Miller's bouncy  

The hurdy-gurdies, the birdies, the cop on the beat

The candy maker, the baker, the man on the street

The city charmer, the farmer, the man in the moon

All sing Elmer's Tune, and Beethoven's and Brahms'. . .

On Saturday evening, replicated across the country, love of music of all stripes and beats prevailed. At Springfield's venerated Symphony Hall, the fare was Beethoven and Brahms featuring a wicked fine violinist.  

But first, the main event had a curtain-raiser. While reading the program before 7 o'clock, I became aware that more short legs than tall legs were arriving on the stage -- The Springfield Symphony Youth Orchestra. Wearing black and a business-like manor, they found their places, positioned their instruments and music, and individually tackled whatever musical phrases needed a few more minutes of practice. Soon after their concertmistress arrived, the pitch sounded and received, Conductor Jonathan Lam stepped onto the podium and Dvorak's Carnival Overture was off and running. The second selection, The Sorcerer's Apprentice (poem by Goethe, music by Paul Dukas), seemed to be a much better fit for the orchestra. The Apprentice's cockiness and progressive panic was well defined and all instruments performed well. To become a member of the SSY requires, among other stipulations, participating in an audition. (Visit www.springfieldsymphony.org) 

A strong round of applause greeted Music Conductor Kevin Rhodes who opened the SSO's program --  a continuation of writings from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the drama Egmont, a telling of historical events abetted by liberal literary license.  Because of the demonstrations occurring now in Egypt, this comment in the program is timely: "...the play conveys Goethe's idealism and passion for political and individual freedom." In his notes, Rhodes writes that Beethoven's score for Egmont Overture is called by some "the most compact symphony ever written." How true! It was over before I had written more than a handful of cryptic words: assertive, exudes confidence, struggle, duress, militant, exacting. Ergo, I savored Beethoven.   

Rachel Barton Pine, Titian-haired violin soloist wearing a bright purple gown that flowed almost to the floor, flashed a warm, inviting smile to an applauding audience. Rhodes stood near the podium, in a presenting mode. In his Reflections, he wrote: "Rachel and I have had the pleasure of performing the Brahms Violin Concerto elsewhere and I can tell you the experience was spellbinding for me. I found myself occasionally wishing I could just stop conducting and listen. I will do something I have never done before and that is to recommend Rachel's own recording of this work for those who wish to know it better, Rachel Barton Pine's Brahms & Joachim Violin Concertos."  

Before she began the concerto, Ms Pine introduced her violin, the Joseph Guarnerius del Gesu (Cremona 1742) on loan from her patron. Known as the "ex-Soldat," the abbreviated history Ms Pine shared can be read in its entirety by visiting http://rock.rachelbartonpine.com/bio_violins.php, For her insight into the creation of the Brahms Violin Concerto and the collaboration of Brahms with the foremost violinist of that day, Joachim, visit http://www.classicalconnect.com/Orchestral_Music/Joachim/Violin_Concerto/1902.  

Ms. Pine's artistry is mature yet accommodates youthful spontaneity. She may have been standing alone just off center from the podium, but there was s no doubt she was an integral component of the orchestra.  Her notes of soaring beauty had just the correct amount of grit, sharpness. As she climbed to high and higher registers, the quality of the sound from her "ex-Soldat" remained pure, and when she gently motioned it away, a note as faint as a feather floated into nothingness.   The first movement was unusually long, coming to a stop with all the fire of a finale, causing many to think the three movements had been seamless. No wonder many in the audience applauded with great enthusiasm.

The second movement had a hymnlike opening, deep-throated resonance, a perfect background for drifting off to sleep. (I didn't.) By the third movement, although her precise technique had become routine, her execution continued to impress. The ending of this demanding concerto was quieter than the first movement's. The audience's roaring filled in the shortfall.  

And, after the physical, mental and emotional demands upon her, she delighted us with an encore she crafted by transforming Tango for Flute #3 into a Tango for Violin. In my mind, I could see a couple dancing the tango. One last word before she left the stage: she invited us to attend the Master Class she was giving the next afternoon, 5 to 8, for student violinists in the SSYouth Orchestra.  

An already full evening continued with Beethoven's Eroica, Symphony No. 3 in E flat Major. In spite of Intermission, I was still resonating from the Brahms concerto. But I quickly recognized the theme, and marveled how adroitly Beethoven dropped the theme in hither and yon, and how he introduced a few bars of a waltz motif before inserting another version of the theme.  

The second movement began with a dirge, somber, and Beethoven did something I couldn't  take time to dissect that grabbed my admiration for his master craftsmanship. The dirge returned. But soon there was scampering, the word "filigree" popped into my head; I pictured a horse farm and soon made a note, "fey music," followed by horns, as if a chase were on.  

During the third movement I became fascinated by the almost continuous maintenance required by the horns, French and English. The movement ended with a benediction, a strong melody, then resolution, but Beethoven had more to say. Which he did in the fourth and final movement. A crescendo involved many instruments, the orchestra responded to Rhodes' every command, going from pianissimo to forte. The ending was imminent. And so we were off to the races, rushing, hurrying, and suddenly, quickly, the magnificent Eroica ended.  

Under the dexterity and enthusiasm of Conductor Kevin Rhodes, lover of almost all things music, another stirring concert was appreciative history.  

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CHADWICK - DVORAK - TCHAIKOVSKY

November 6, 2010

Kevin Rhodes, Music Director

Martin Kasik, Piano Soloist

In an interview with The Republican's music writer, Clifton J. Noble Jr. wrote of Rhodes admitting "to sensing a program underlying the noncommittal tempo indications for each of [Tchaikovsky's] Fifth Symphony's four movements. "I find myself conducting music for a grand party scene," Rhodes reflected, "full of over-the-top emotional gestures as people decare their love, hate, vengeance, curses, hopes, mystery, and all the rest of the devices found in 19th century stage works."

Reviewed by Donna Bailey-Thompson

Every SSO concert is a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end that is both definitive and, literally, up in the air. On Saturday evening, November 6, 2010 this was true, especially the up-in-the-air ending.

But first, the beginning. Although the program notes (by Joseph & Elizabeth Kahn, Wordpros@mindspring.com) supply information about the concert that is informative, succinct and easy to read, more and more of us start arriving at Symphony Hall as early as 6:30 – 1 ½ hours before the concert begins – because we want to know what Music Director Kevin Rhodes has to say during his pre-concert talk and to enjoy how he says it. The man is so totally into music that his enthusiasm, if not contagious, is inspirational.

The evening opened with Melpomene by George Chadwick (1854-1931), an American, whose musical education included three years in Germany, followed by settling in Boston "to compose, conduct and teach." The Kahn’s next sentence cracked me up: "Although he was not prolific, he composed in all genres, including six operas, three symphonies and five string quartets." Maybe, to borrow a word from Jimmy Durante, if not a prolific composer, what he wrote was cherce.. Rhodes said the reason we don’t know Melpomene "is because it was written by an American," implying, I suppose, residual pockets of deference to European culture mixed with snobbery. (A few years ago, on a train between Cologne and Dusseldorf, when a couple of 20-something women learned I was an American, they spoke of their longing to go to America. "In America, everything is new; here everything is so old.")

The Melpomene: Dramatic Overture is straightforward, no embellishing nonsense but bedrock Yankee-ism. An injection of European influence led briefly to a little complication, and perhaps some congestion? There were lilting passages and a lovely ending, a piece worth hearing many times more than just once. Overheard was a concertgoer’s remark, "I didn’t notice any breaks between movements" (probably because the Overture doesn’t have any).

According to the Kahns, the evening’s guest soloist, pianist Martin Kasik "a native of Prague, Czech Republic is known and respected in many countries for his exceptional artistic expression of music." Here, he received many inches of advance press to whet appetites and raise expectations. Together with the SSO, he demonstrated, without fanfare, his mastery of Dvorak’s (1841-1904) No. 5 in E Minor, a piece Rhodes said strongly impressed him the first time he heard it.

Kasik is a clean pianist. There’s a refreshing absence of histrionics. Even his attire was tailored (knee-length buttoned jacket/coat that resembles a lab coat; sorry, a Google search failed to provide a name). The first movement loosed images of meadows, butterflies, birds and wine – a bucolic idyl – that pleased some so much that they applauded. Of course, that breach of etiquette annoyed some but here’s the bright side: the folks who applauded were enjoying the performance. At the end of the second movement, fresh from feeling embarrassed, there was silence. Following the finale, the audience was on its feet and would not let Kasik leave the stage. His encore (he announced its name but no one in my vicinity caught it) dazzled and amazed. His fingering, admired throughout the concerto, the beauty of his hands cupped into a wide curve, the staccato speed and dexterity, shocked, fascinated. The hall erupted with cheers.

For Tchaikovsky’s beloved Symphony No. 5 in E minor, an exalted work among other favorites in Rhodes’ pantheon, we knew that his love of this piece would be experienced by us. During the pre-concert talk, he mentioned that some considered Tchaikovsky’s tunes the product of not a first-rate composer. He played a few bars of the theme when it’s first heard and again later, exclaiming, "Oh God, it’s even more beautiful this time!" He also quipped, as if channeling the composer, "Everything is nice and happy but don’t forget: I’m a sad guy!"

From its doleful beginning, and then into the second movement’s velvet sound of "moonglow" (that’s a memory crutch, not a putdown), the repetition of the secondary theme (over and over, please don’t stop!); then the waltzing in the third movement and finally the andante maestoso – the march, a distinguished column, trumpets trumpeting; the familiar theme to wash over us again; a military theme.......while strings create a whirlwind.

Of course the audience exploded! The SSO had taken the familiar and made it new. Maestro Rhodes beamed. Light suffused his face. His high spirits were palpable, charged with deserved pride of the musicians' accomplishment and from the pleasure of presenting, so beautifully, a symphony created by a first-rate composer.

That was the up-in-the-air ending – an exaltation unleashed into the ether as well as into individual memories.

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Opening Night ~ Red Carpet Gala
Saturday, October 2, 2010 at 8 PM
Kevin Rhodes, Conductor
Christopher Atzinger, Piano

When Hype is Not Hogwash

“The stars align for a brilliant gala opening, as Duparc's enchanting Aux Etoiles (To the Stars) begins a special program for a special season. Celebrating our tenth year under Music Director Kevin Rhodes, we present the great American piano concerto by Barber, and a romantic masterpiece by one of the Maestro's favorites, Rachmaninoff.” – SSO publicity release.

Reviewed by Donna Bailey-Thompson

While the advance publicity of the SSO’s season’s opening was in high gear, those who have experienced the orchestra’s growth from adequate to superb under the leadership of its charismatic musical director, Kevin Rhodes, knew that barring a meteor bombardment on Springfield’s Court Square, the program would be a winner.

And, a winner it was.

The only hitch occurred during Rhodes’ pre-concert talk: evidently the wireless mike had a hissy fit which meant Rhodes could not play passages selected from the concert on the piano while simultaneously providing running commentary that could be heard throughout Symphony Hall. He overcame the inconvenience with aplomb.

Immediately prior to the concert, Maestro Rhodes was presented with an oversized poster bearing the signatures of hundreds of concert-goers in honor of beginning his tenth season as Music Director and Conductor of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra. The applause coupled with a standing ovation was fueled by the audience’s appreciation for his accomplishments. He said, “These have been the best nine years of my life.”

The pre-concert take-away insight about the program proved to be factual – melodic stillness followed by borderline cacophony capped by majestic musicianship – all rendered by an orchestra whose skill supported the audience’s patriotic fervor triggered by the playing and singing of the Star Spangled Banner.

In sharp contrast to the angular national anthem, Henri Duparc’s Aux Etoiles (To The Stars) was as still as Monet’s beloved watery garden at Giverny. The sweetly soulful caress of the elegiac undertones promoted reflections so many grades higher than the often mind-numbing pablum that passes for music to soothe the savage breast. The program notes described Aux Etoiles as “a lilting reverie.” Yes!

Once the concert grand (a black beast) was wheeled into position, soloist Christopher Atzinger walked onto the stage. Because illness kept the originally scheduled soloist Norman Krieger from appearing, Mr. Atzinger had two weeks to bring Barber’s complicated, demanding Piano Concerto, Op 38 up to speed. If his entrance suggested a hint of nervousness (the resolute determination to walk unaided to the gallows), he owned that right. Although the Barber is part of his repertoire, he had not played it in concert for six years. All I knew about the concerto came from reading about it.

Here’s what I know now: the Barber is not Chopin’s Minute Waltz.  Beyond demanding highly developed finger dexterity, this opus has to take up residence in the artist’s brain, a special garret where the unexpected becomes tamed so it can burst forth at the artist’s command. At times, the pianist’s gift of life to the composer’s notes resembled a controlled crash – a beautifully orchestrated crash, no fatalities, but plenty of dropped jaws. At other moments, an embroidered theme could elevate a Joan Crawford potboiler to art or beggar the question, “What combined stressors instigated a psychidelic condition that assembled these musical notes?”

During the second movement (Canzone moderato), my notes read, “What was the composer thinking?” because my thoughts were of the Valkyries claiming the dead from the battlefield. My notes also include, “Orchestration and orchestra outstanding. Hauntingly beautiful. SSO, bravo!” With the third movement (Allegro vivace), “back to the damn war.” Musical acrimony prevailed – perfect accompaniment for filing a divorce.

And throughout this tour de force, the marriage of the composer with the pianist was praiseworthy – and breath-catching. Mr. Atzinger’s technique was to die for – clarity in the midst of chaos; distinctions between the reflective and the sublime; judicious use of the pedal; volume to rattle the timbers contrasted with softness to soothe a wee babe.

When the concert ended, momentarily stunned by the staggering work, the impeccable timing demands upon orchestra and soloist, there was a split-second pause before the ovation cut loose. Gone was Mr. Atzinger’s pre-performance measured walk replaced by well-earned upbeat gait that bordered on jaunty.

Following an intermission enlivened by excited reactions to the Barber, the audience settled back into their seats to savor the familiar – Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op.27. The cellos’ doleful opening bars were followed by a richness of sound singular to Russian composers: the soul exposes pain, longings, that are relieved by moments of profound beauty. During the second movement (Allegro molto), the communication between Rhodes and the musicians was clear, decisive, responsive. With the third movement (Adagio) – music to fall in love to – a poster movement of ache-ingly beautiful music – the clarinet solo was appropriately textured without sliding into the melodramatic.

The final movement (Allegro vivace), was off to a happy start but the program’s length and demands may have contributed to an almost imperceptible flagging of the orchestra which the Maestro detected causing him to step up his truly amazing energy with the silent message, “Don’t quit now!” Rhodes’ enthusiasm, his unabashed love of music fueled SSO’s fine musicians who went on to fulfill the program’s comment, “The headlong rush of the exultant finale . . .” to the audience’s happy satisfaction. From the body language on stage, the audience's enthusiastic appreciation complemented the Maestro’s and SSO's knowledge they had delivered the musical goods -- for all involved, a win-win evening.

PROGRAM

Henri DuParc  (1848 - 1933)               

Aux Etoiles      

Samuel Barber  (1910 - 1981)      

               Piano Concerto, Op. 38                     

I. Allegro appassionata                  II. Canzone Moderato
III. Allegro molto

Mr. Atzinger

    INTERMISSION

Sergei Rachmaninoff  (1873 - 1943)   

               Symphony No. 2, in E minor, Op. 27                      

I. Largo - Allegro moderato
II. Allegro molto
III. Adagio
IV. Allegro vivace

NEXT

Nov. 6, 2010 Dvorák & Tchaikovsky

Jan. 29, 2011 Beethoven & Brahms
Mar. 5, 2011 Mozart & Prokofiev
Apr. 2, 2011 Music of the Ballet
May 7, 2011 Symphonie Fantastique

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BEHIND THE MUSIC

http://www.springfieldsymphony.org/BtM.htm

Nuggets of Musical Insight

Home Page

http://www.springfieldsymphony.org/

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2009 - 2010

Beethoven & Beethoven: the 1st and the 9th

Saturday --  May 1, 2010 at 8:00 PM

Kevin Rhodes, Music Director and Conductor

Springfield Symphony Chorus, Nikki Stoia, Director

Guest soloists:

Mary Wilson, soprano

Stacey Rishoi, mezzo-soprano

Alan Schneider, tenor

Gustav Andreassen, bass

Rossini, Tchaikovsky, Franck

CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR SPECIAL MESSAGE

FROM MAESTRO KEVIN RHODES

Saturday -- April 10, 2010 at 8:00 PM

Kevin Rhodes, Music Director and Conductor

Jeffrey Biegel, Piano

Opening the concert is Rossini's Semiramide Overture, followed by acclaimed pianist Jeffery Biegel who encores with the Symphony performing one of the most popular concertos of all time, Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor. And then, Franck's most famous orchestral work, Symphony in D minor, returns to the SSO after more than 20 years.


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

Donizetti, Rachmaninoff & Brahms

Saturday, January 23, 2010
Kevin Rhodes, Music Director and Conductor
Alexander Ghindin, Piano

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The SSO in Rehearsal -- November, 2009

Glinka, Barber & Tchaikovsky -- Saturday, November 21, 2009
Kevin Rhodes, Music Director and Conductor
Janet Sung, Violin

Opening Night 2009: Red Carpet Gala
Wagner: Ride of the Valkyries
Liszt: Mephisto Waltz
Liszt: A Faust Symphony
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Opening Night 2008: Bernstein, Gershwin, Prokofiev