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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

Maestro Bernard Labadie is a leading conductor of music from the Baroque and Classical periods. His ensemble, Les Violins du Roy, tours and records extensively to rave reviews. With a subtle gesture and a light lift of his baton, he led the Kansas City Symphony last Friday night in a program of lighthearted, perennial fan favorites by Schubert and Mozart.

Orchestras around the world have the good fortune to work with guest conductors from time to time. Each brings a new perspective and point of view. In Kansas City, roughly half of the Symphony's season features performances conducted by special guests. It isn't a surprise and the players should be able to accommodate professionally.

The difference between a mediocre performance and a great performance is passion and excitement - both were conspicuously missing.

The Schubert Symphony No. 5 was surprisingly sleepy and languid. It is a well-known, crowd-pleasing symphony that summons Mozart's spirit and extends it into the Romantic period. The dynamic ranges were shallow and unpronounced, and Labadie conveyed his intentions with barely a motion of his baton. Unfortunately rarely a musician head's was raised from their music stand. The third movement rallied a little bit, but the players were in auto pilot.

The exceptionally fine pianist, Benedetto Lupo was the featured soloist for the Mozart Concerto No. 18 for Piano and Orchestra in B-Flat major, K. 456. The opening statement was bright and bubbled like freshly un-corked champagne. Lupo played with a humble touch not necessarily in keeping with the effervescent nature of Mozart's theme. Technically, the trills were seamless and the KCS was spot on. In the second movement, the piano solos were glorious and sensitively played by Lupo. He was able to use his instrument to squeeze the dynamic extremes and to sustain and mix the tone colors. Not a second was wasted before the third movement, and that seemed to take Maestro Labadie by surprise. While the pianist was vivace, the KC Symphony's contribution was more subdued.

The second half fared somewhat better. Thanks to the triumphant timpani, the Chaconne from Idomeneo by Mozart was exciting and finally shook things up.

Mozart's Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major closed the second half like a bookend. In exactly the same form as the Schubert work that led, this symphony is colorful and mysterious with a thrilling dance movement in the middle. Yet it lacked forward motion and intention. Every note sounded lackadaisical and unfocused. The exciting ascending phrases in the third movement that should have crested like rockets were played with a decrescendo that immediately extinguished the fire.

Surely any number of excuses could be made on behalf of this performance, but audiences don't attend live concerts to hear mediocre execution. We are exhausted and long to be whisked away from our cares by music that is well-played and sublime. The Kansas City Symphony lost an opportunity to thrill with a program that should have been a sure hit.

Kansas City Symphony
with guest conductor Bernard Labadie
and Benedetto Lupo, piano
Magnificent Mozart
Friday, January 15, 2010 (Reviewed)
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Lyric Theatre
11^th and Central, Kansas City, MO
For tickets to other events call 816-471-0400 or online at www.kcsymphony.org

By Megan Browne Helm

Classical, Vocal and Theatre Contributor

Megan Browne Helm grew up singing, dancing and acting.  Inspired by Emma Kirkby as a high school student in St. Louis she went on to study voice and sing with the Collegium Musicum at the Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio where she also had a radio show of contemporary classical music on WOBC.  At the University of Kansas she had the pleasure of working with former Kings’ Singer, Simon Carrington in his Collegium Musicum and Oread consort. Years later, she was a choral fellow at the Yale School of Music’s  Norfolk Chamber Music Festival.  She is currently singing with the Kansas City Symphony Chorus under the direction of Charles Bruffy. 

 As a freelance music and culture writer her work can be found on KCMetropolis.org, presentmagazine.com, the Lawrence Journal World, Shawnee Magazine, Leawood Lifestyle Magazine and KC Parent.  She was one of 26 journalists in the country chosen as a NEA Institute Fellow for Classical Music and Opera at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. 

Her current interest is how classical music remains relevant through active collaborations with artists in different fields, including science.  She also sees a connection between classical music, travel and food as a way to engage all of the senses in a 360 degree cultural experience.  She blogs at raworganum.wordpress.com.