RSS 2.0 FeedApril 1, 2009, Cover Stories, Classical
Stern’s Schumann steals the show
As appealing in poetical content as the opening half of the concert was, the show-stopper Friday night was Director Michael Stern’s exuberant performance of the Symphony No. 2 in C Major, Op. 61 by Robert Schumann.
Friday night at the Lyric Theatre, the pre-concert buzz was all about hearing the American premiere of a piece for violin and orchestra composed by British composer, Sir John Tavener to be performed by the beautiful Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti, 21, with the Kansas City Symphony. Lalishri for Solo Violin and Strings was written for Benedetti in 2007. After performing its world premiere with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Andrew Litton, Benedetti released a recording of it that same year on theDeutsche Grammophon label.
Benedetti drew a luscious silvery tone from her 1723 Earl Spencer Stradivarius that rose ethereally above the orchestra even in heavily orchestrated passages. Her ability to make the violin sing like a soulful sitar, resplendent with sinuous slurs in an ancient wail of the song of India was a high point of the evening. Also noteworthy in the work was the placement of a string quartet at the back of the stage that seemed to echo serene beauty from the world beyond.
Tavener composed this work with a nod to Drupad, classical Indian music, noted for its complexity of tonality that bends notes into micro tones and rhythmical nuance intended to express and inspire a transcendental journey of the soul. Written in a series of cycles, rather than movements, each punctuated by a brief quote from the slow movement of the Bruch Violin Concerto, the work is an extraordinarily complex piece that cannot be fully appreciated in only one hearing. It merits being presented again soon - hopefully in the new Kaufmann Center for the Performing Arts!
The evening began with a far too seldom heard piece by American composer, Charles Tomlinson Griffes. The Pleasure-Dome of Kubla Khan received its Carnegie Hall premiere in November 1919, only four months before the untimely death of Griffes at the age of 35. Inspired by the poem of the same name by English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the piece is a gem of Impressionism - infused with a sunny American accent. Solo passages by Concertmistress Kanako Ito and principal oboist Laura Schaefer-Berndt were particularly expressive and lovely.
As appealing in poetical content as the opening half of the concert was, steeped in mystical eroticism and the lure of the Orient, the show-stopper Friday night was Director Michael Stern's exuberant performance of the Symphony No. 2 in C Major, Op. 61 by Robert Schumann. It brought down the house in what this reviewer considers to have been the best performance she has heard of this work. The driving, frenetic energy of the violins in the second movement opening tutti passages and again at the conclusion of the movement were particularly marvelous to behold.
Bravo! to Stern and the Kansas City Symphony for a Schumann 2nd that will long be remembered for its vitality and beauty.
REVIEW:
Kansas City Symphony
with Nicola Benedetti, Violinist
Friday, March 27, 2009 at 8:00 pm,
Lyric Theatre, Downtown Kansas City, MO
www.kcsymphony.org
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