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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

The Kansas City Symphony's first concert of the new year presented a new piece, new soloists and a golden standard.  On paper that is an auspicious endeavor; in practice however, there was a lack of pizzazz until the final moments of the concert.  The orchestra under guest conductor Asher Fisch certainly performed well, but other mitigating factors overshadowed their great ensemble playing.

Menachem Wiesenberg's Reflections in its US premiere showcased the composer's great ear for orchestration and controlled counterpoint.  Even delicate percussion sounds and celeste were audible in the textures.  From the dark and striking opening trio between bass clarinet, alto flute, and bass drum I was expecting a lot out of the piece.  Unfortunately, after the tightly constructed opening, the form unraveled and the abrupt ending was more jarring than final.  Wiesenberg stated he had three influences while writing the piece: Landino and Hebrew folk music, jazz, and choreography.  The jazz portion, like the ending, was not as integrated into the piece as I would have preferred.  The folk music was treated respectfully and with pride, and avoided cliché. Overall the piece was enjoyable, but innocuous with very clever sound combinations with a distinct lack of hit points throughout the piece. It never let loose or provided for that truly gripping moment.

Young Curtis Institute students, twenty-three-year-old violinist Josef Spacek and twenty-year-old cellist Camden Shaw served as soloists for the Brahms Double Concerto in A Minor.  I believe in supporting young artists and having the ability to play with a symphony orchestra is a great experience... but I would have chosen another piece for them to play.  The performance came off as slightly artificial and beyond their musical maturity level.  I was watching them intently and it seemed as though their thought process was "This is how I've seen great artists move while they are emoting, so I will move the same way."  Physicality matched, but the musical outcome was lacking.  It was especially evident in the first movement's botched cello pizzicatos and the entirety of the second movement.  The second movement was played as if it was an intonation etude.  Their intonation was stellar, but while that facet shined, there was a lyrical void.  The resulting effect was note-after-note-after-note with no shape; it is a great melody that should be played as such.  These young performers certainly have the technique though, and I look forward to hearing them in the future.

Of the closing Dvořák 's Seventh Symphony, the final two movements were wonderfully performed.  The syncopations in the scherzo were crisp and the orchestra looked, and more importantly, sounded like they were enjoying themselves.  This pleasure was noticeable during the hocketed octaves, for instance, and in the sensitive playing of the trio. The audience certainly enjoyed themselves as well, as everyone held their breath for the final minutes-only exhaling after Maestro Fisch relaxed.  The final movement was a blur of excellent string and wind playing until the horns stole the show with their final ascending interval.  It was played with just the right amount of oomph and grit.  I could not help but smile and nod after hearing that; that is what a horn section should sound like.


Kansas City Symphony
Brahms Double Concerto, Plus Dvorak
with guest conductor Asher Fisher
Friday January 8, 2009
Saturday, January 9, 2009 (Reviewed)
Lyric Theatre, 11^th and Central
Kansas City, MO
Sunday, January 10, 2009
Carlsen Center
Johnson County Community College
12345 College Boulevard, Overland Park, KS
For tickets call 816-471-0400 or online at www.kcsymphony.org

Top photo: Guest conductor, Asher Fisher.

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