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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

In the second concert of the new classical season, the Kansas City Symphony under Michael Stern's baton played rousing selections by Eastern European composers.  Vastly improving upon the lackluster season opener, the Symphony's performance was more energetic, emotive and engaging.

Nostalgia was a theme in all three works on Saturday night's performance: Kodály's Dances of Galánta, Dvorák's Cello Concerto in B Minor, and Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances.  Kodály's piece was inspired by fondly remembered Gypsy melodies from his boyhood home in the Galánta region (modern day Slovakia).  Composed during Dvorák's time in New York, the Cello Concerto is rife with homesickness and longing and some gorgeous melodies.  Also composed in the United States, more specifically Long Island Sound, Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances were composed after fleeing Europe during World War I.  With its liturgical quotes ranging from his own All-Night Vigil of 1915 to the ever popular Dies irae the piece is filled with chromatic melancholy and rich orchestrations.

Dances of Galánta was a showcase for the winds, in particular principal clarinetist Raymond Santos. He navigated these major orchestral excerpts with just enough schmaltz.  His pianissimo dynamics were exceptionally soft and controlled.  The only detractors of the piece were some of the transitions; new tempi were not clearly established, and so, for a couple of beats the ensemble was out of sync.

German cellist Alban Gerhardt served as soloist for the Dvorák Cello Concerto.  Of the Romantic cello concertos, this one is by far my favorite; however I was left wanting with Gerhardt's interpretation.  He did not seem engaged with the conductor or the Symphony, and this was made apparent by occasional tempo issues at his entrances. He is a fine cellist, but this performance was nothing spectacular. There were some bow control issues resulting in unwanted harmonics and a few out-of-tune natural harmonics that crippled the end of the second movement.  I did appreciate his aggressive treatment of the double-stop passages. The first two movements were handled well by the Symphony, but the third movement went off the rails a bit after a series of successive flubs in the winds.  Concertmaster Kanako Ito tried valiantly to rescue the third movement with her impressive violin solos, but the momentum had already been lost.

As Rachmaninoff's last work for orchestra, the Symphonic Dances are replete with splendid moments.  The first movement is a demonic dervish of descending three-note motives that become the main compositional germ of the movement.  It is lush, pulsating and dark, and with an unexpected (and for the rest of the piece, unused) alto saxophone solo, even a little bit sexy.  Kudos go to pianist Dan Velicer and contrabassoonist Anthony Anurca for making the most out of their small moments of glory.  The brass section was in excellent form in the second movement.  With Maestro Stern, they navigated the organic push and pull of the rubato tempo with ease and an impressive ensemble sound.  Some of the woodwind licks sounded a bit forced, but they did not detract from the lovely string playing especially in the violas and celli.  The compound meters of the third movement and its off-kilter accents provided for a rollicking closer.  Again the brass stood out for all the right reasons, most notably the horns and low brass were very precise on a wicked syncopated figure after the full entrance of the Dies irae.  The high strings played expressively in the emotive swells of slower L'istesso tempo portion.  As a section, the percussionists played well, in particular during the closing.  There was some grumbling in the audience after the final tam-tam hit; many thought it should have been have been cut off to allow for riotous applause.  Sorry folks, check your score: Rachmaninoff marked it laisser vibrer - let it sound on.

REVIEW:
Kansas City Symphony with Michael Stern
Rachmaninoff and Dvorak
Alban Gerhardt, cello
October 9-11, 2009 (Reviewed October 10)
Lyric Theatre and Topeka Performing Arts Center
www.kcsymphony.org

By Lee Hartman

Editor-in-Chief; Traditional and New Classical Contributor

Lee Hartman holds degrees from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (D.M.A., M.M.) and the University of Delaware (B.M.). At the University of Delaware, he received a Dean's Scholar position enabling him to pursue an individually designed academic program combining music education and composition. At the University of Missouri-Kansas City he served for three years as the Assistant Director to Musica Nova, the conservatory's new music ensemble, while teaching a variety of composition classes.

In 2007 he was invited to both the Iceland Academy of the Arts in Reykjavík, Iceland and the Sichuan Conservatory in Chengdu, China to give lectures and master classes in composition. In the summer of 2009, Hartman served as an orchestra manager for the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble and Aspen Opera Theater Center for various performances. He serves on the National Executive Committee of the Society of Composers, Inc. as Submissions Coordinator. His primary composition instructors include James Mobberley, Chen Yi, Zhou Long, Paul Rudy, John Beall, and Jennifer Margaret Barker. He currently teaches music theory at the University of Central Missouri and general music classes at Park University having previously taught at UD (2007–08) and UMKC (2006–07).

His compositions can be found at http://www.leehartmanmusic.com