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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

After a couple of dubious performances, I was anxious and nervous for the Kansas City Symphony's program this past weekend.  Two American composers with two 20^th century works?  Pianist Robert Levin playing Beethoven?  Sounded promising...  But again, I was cautious with my hopes - and thankfully, the Symphony treated their audience to an evening of pleasurable and interesting music-making.

Michael Stern began the evening by addressing the audience to explain the program.  Some of the information was welcome such as his reasoning for programming the concert's first work, George Crumb's A Haunted Landscape, but in my opinion, he perhaps went a little over long in his introduction. 

The Symphony's presentation of A Haunted Landscape was impressive and certainly lived up to the work's title.  Eerie, perfectly balanced string entrances, subtle offstage trumpet fanfare and expertly executed phrases in the woodwind section were definite highlights.  The percussion section deserves special mention for effectively establishing the work's dark and mysterious mood, using unconventional instruments such as steel drums and hammered dulcimer.  The audience was perhaps a bit restless in the beginning, but the work's suspense and intensity were so well built by the orchestra that they had thoroughly captured the audience's attention by the end. 

While it would have been wonderful for the program to feature all-American composers or all 20^th century works, pianist Robert Levin gave a spectacular performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major.   Levin's technical precision and dynamic control were flawless, and his energetic and emotive gestures looked effortless: he was very fun to watch.  His trills and embellishments were particularly outstanding.  The first movement was the strongest, and the KCS appeared to be relieved to be back in their comfort zone of more typical concert repertoire.  The delicate second movement was lovely and played with much sensitivity all around especially in the principal clarinetist's solo and the pizzicato attacca into the third movement.  Levin and the orchestra truly let each other shine.  The third movement's lively and exuberant theme was slightly diminished by the dip in the orchestra's overall energy level. 

The Symphony returned from intermission with energy renewed for Copland's Symphony No. 3.  Sweeping, broad chords in the violins and winds, and later in the brass were all in tune and expressive, and the playful riffs of the second movement were passed among the instruments seamlessly.  The woodwind section should be commended for their consistently excellent playing throughout the evening, especially in this piece.  By the third movement, everyone was starting to feel the length of the concert.  The third movement's opening was a bit shaky, slightly out of tune, with sloppy pizzicatos in the low strings.  The "Fanfare for the Common Man" theme is the heart of the final movement, and while the orchestra played the familiar, majestic theme well with few missteps, the ending lacked the energy it had at the beginning of the piece. 

As I left the Lyric Theatre, I checked the time and found myself surprised that the concert lasted over two and half hours.  I did not feel the concert was over-programmed, as the Symphony has done in the past.  This was a compelling and cohesive evening that did not drag the audience along.  But then again, there was a lot of music in those three pieces, and the orchestra showed their fatigue towards the end.  Still, it was a wonderful performance by the Kansas City Symphony and soloist alike.  More concerts like this please, Mr. Stern!


REVIEW:
Kansas City Symphony
Stern Conducts Copland & Beethoven
with Robert Levin, piano
Friday, March 5, 2010 (Reviewed)
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Lyric Theatre
11^th and Central, Downtown Kansas City, MO
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Yardley Hall, Carlsen Center
12345 College Boulevard, Overland Park, KS
www.kcsymphony.org

By Kristin Shafel

Editorial Assignments Executive Editor; Traditional and New Classical Contributor
Kristin Shafel, a native of Madison, WI, moved to Kansas City in 2001 to attend the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance, where she earned both her M.M. and B.M. in composition, with additional focus in double bass performance and arts administration. During her time at UMKC, Kristin was a student leader and performer in many of the Conservatory's student organizations and ensembles, including Musica Nova, Composers' Guild, the Conservatory Student Association, the orchestras, and Wind Symphony. Her composition instructors were James Mobberley, Paul Rudy, Zhou Long and Chen Yi, and her bass instructor was Sue Stubbs.

Kristin's compositions have been performed at national and regional new music festivals and conferences in Missouri, Wisconsin, Texas, Oklahoma, New York, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, and Oregon. She is a member of ASCAP, SCI, NACUSA, IAWM, and Vox Novus. In 2009 Kristin received a 1-year internship with the Chamber Music Society of Kansas City and started regularly volunteering for Charlotte Street Foundation.

Kristin has been a bassist in the Kansas City Civic Orchestra since 2007 (for which she also serves as Bass Section Principal and Concert Annotator) and recently joined the Northland Symphony Orchestra and Heritage Philharmonic. Formerly a guitarist, Kristin performed with big bands and her own jazz combo in Madison, WI, having studied jazz guitar and theory with Roger Brotherhood in Madison. At UMKC, Kristin studied jazz voice and theory with Hal Melia and classical guitar with Douglas Niedt.