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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

Guest conductor Jeffrey Kahane led the Kansas City Symphony in an energetic and robust performance Friday night. The program offered a lively contrast of styles to a nearly full Helzberg Hall. Kahane, who is also an accomplished pianist, pulled double duty as soloist, too.

Exceptional playing from the orchestra brought forth music that not only resonated with a physical exuberance—from the rumbling basses to the lush upper strings through the individual wind lines—but also with an emotional, nuanced performance.

For Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major, K. 503, the piano was thrust into the core of the orchestra. Kahane’s position at the keyboard allowed for an efficient conducting style that was an extension of his playing and vice versa. As the music clipped along, he gestured with a flick of the wrist or a nod of the head with an ease that suggested complete confidence in the ensemble. In more demonstrative moments, he leaned forward, over the interior of the piano, welcoming entrances in turn.

Mozart’s spirited motivic fragments in a bright C major created whirling, vigorous melodies. Kahane’s cadenza journeyed from delicate to commanding to playful.  In the second movement, the exchanges between the winds and piano locked almost seamlessly.

Sergey Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27 is a stirring, imaginative work. A gifted pianist and conductor, Rachmaninoff's writing expressed the dense emotionality of the Romantic era. Kahane used a more muscular style of conducting here, though still efficient in his gesture.

The murky opening theme of the basses set the tone, a sort of musical primordial ooze. From this emerged a glimmering melody, which occurred throughout the symphony. Each return showcased Rachmaninoff’s ability to walk the fine line of emotive repetition that was neither syrupy nor monotonous.

The second movement began at a cracking pace, with colorful treatment of the themes. As the tempo slowed with the intensity of the melody, Kahane drew out the line, savoring the change. The cellos really dug in as the mechanistic motives interlocked, while the horns showcased a brash athleticism in their lines, along with excellent choral work with the rest of the brass.

Tender solos drove the third movement, supported by sweeping lines in the strings. The familiar material took off like a firework in the final movement, with interjections in the winds peppered throughout, finishing in a rousing climax.

While there were a few missteps and intonation issues, the overall effect was astounding and received a thundering ovation from the audience. 

REVIEW:
Kansas City Symphony
Mozart & Rachmaninoff
Friday, January 13, 2011 (Reviewed)
Saturday, January 14, 2011
Sunday, January 15, 2011 
Helzberg Hall, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
1601 Broadway Blvd., Kansas City, MO 
For more information visit www.kcsymphony.org

Top Photo: Jeffrey Kahane

By Libby Hanssen

Traditional and New Classical, Theatre Contributor

Libby Hanssen holds degrees from University of Missouri-Kansas City (M.M.) and Ball State University (B.M.) in trombone performance and also studied music education at Indiana University. She has studied trombone with Carl Lenthe, JoDee Davis, John Seidel, John Huntoon and Denis Wick, and music education with Brent Gault, Estelle Jorgensen and Katherine Strand.

While at IU, she taught classes in general music, focusing on listening skills and music fundamentals through practical music usage and exploring new sound constructions. During the course of her studies at UMKC, she performed with many ensembles, including the Conservatory Orchestra and Musica Nova. She has also performed with the Kansas City Puccini Festival, the People's Liberation Big Band of Greater Kansas City, the New Jazz Order, the Indiana Wind Symphony and the Muncie Symphony Orchestra.

In 2010, she was a fellow (one of 23 journalists selected from across the US) for the seventh annual National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Arts Journalism Institute in Classical Music and Opera at Columbia University’s Journalism School in New York City.

Most of her free time is spent with her three boys (son, dog and husband) and camera, exploring the many fine aspects of Kansas City living. She enjoys listening to KKFI - Kansas City Community Radio and KCUR - Kansas City's NPR station, visiting Kansas City's fine collection of museums and galleries, and scavenging in thrift and antique stores to add to her collection of toy instruments.

She writes for the joy of words and the process of constructing a story, maintaining the blog Proust Eats a Sandwich (www.prousteatsasandwich.wordpress.com). She is working on her first book: Murray Goes to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.