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The Kansas City Symphony presented a program celebrating youthful talent last Friday with mixed success. A half-capacity audience at the Lyric Theatre was treated to three compositions written by three composers in the beginnings of their respective careers and featured thirty-year-old pianist Jonathan Biss in the final selection, Brahms’ Concerto No. 1 in D Minor for Piano and Orchestra.

An exposed Adagio opening got off to a rocky start in the Symphony’s performance of then twenty-seven-year-old Richard Wagner’s Rienzi Overture. The principal trumpet’s bell-tones wavered slightly as he introduced duos in the string and woodwind sections, whose first entrances were imprecisely timed. I wasn’t immediately sold on this piece as an opener with it’s initially sleepy tempo and moody character. Nonetheless, a confident brass section helped build the overture to a suitable climax and a satisfying conclusion as the pace quickened and the energy intensified.

Thirty-year-old composer Adam Schoenberg seemed nervous as he took the stage next to introduce the world premiere of his Kansas City Symphony commission entitled American Symphony. He garnered an amiable chuckle from the audience with his brief explanation of the third movement, “I was going for a classical/club/electronica feel,” he explained somewhat sheepishly.

In a symphony program that was assembled to celebrate youthful talent, Schoenberg’s composition was the shining example of the evening. In the opening bars of the first movement’s “Fanfare,” one couldn’t help but notice the massive orchestral presence onstage. Schoenberg was quite fortunate for his first outing with a major symphony, securing a triple wind orchestration with four percussionists plus timpani, piano, celeste, and harp—an expensive number of personnel onstage for today’s frugal American orchestras.

“Fanfare” had moments reminiscent of Copland’s harmonic language in the Third Symphony, a noted influence, as the string section created a syncopated, toe-tapping ostinato ornamented by prominent percussion including tom-toms, bass drum, and snare drum.

Subtitled “White on Blue,” the second movement featured a pretty, aleatoric duo of crotales and vibraphone at the opening that built into a poignant, Thomas Newman-like string and brass orchestration. There was a beautiful series of alternating, modal seventh and ninth harmonies that rocked gently back and forth.

The third movement’s “Rondo” was a well-paced example of the “standard” form that featured not-so-standard, asymmetrical, mixed-meter accents throughout.

Lovely, slow-moving melodic passages in the oboe, trumpet, and clarinet featured poignant leaps to strong dissonances in the symphony’s fourth movement, “Prayer,” as the low strings created planed waves of parallel fifth harmonies. Later, the pitch of a high-register duo section between the principal and assistant principal celli seemed unsettled, despite the strong intended dissonances.

A string ostinato was built with ascending, hemiola-rhythm arpeggios in the final movement, “Stars, Stripes and Celebration.” Maintaining the same rhythmic texture, the movement developed slowly-paced, simple melodic riffs in the brass and woodwinds. In a second section the brass and woodwinds joined the ostinato while the strings dove into a richer sixteenth-note texture.

A later section just before the ending that dispensed with the percussion was the only point that seemed to sag in energy and direction. American Symphony was brought to a close with a powerful, aggressive, and satisfying end that re-introduced the previously prominent percussion. A composition teacher of mine once said that if you end with a big, loud finish the audience will clap louder. This certainly seemed to work for Adam Schoenberg, who took the stage twice for the audience’s accolades. I was pleasantly impressed with the three-quarters of the audience which offered the twenty-first-century composition a standing ovation.

Continuing the theme of youthful musicianship after intermission, the Symphony closed with Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, finished when the composer was only twenty-six. Thirty-year-old pianist Jonathan Biss was the featured soloist.

I was looking forward to hearing Biss play after finding his witty, life-as-a-musician blog, wondering what style and character he might bring to performing the Brahms. Unfortunately, be it the piece, the day, musical maturity, or too full a schedule, this was not a memorable performance by the pianist.

The lengthy double-exposition did not seem to settle in until well into the development of the opening Maestoso movement. Early on, Biss seemed to be covered by the full ensemble, while Brahms’ usually sonorous orchestration sounded muffled and tenuous following the powerful volume achieved in Schoenberg’s Symphony. In the second (piano) exposition, there were several unintentionally humorous moments where Biss played heavily into the keyboard, pushing himself off the bench with dramatic head shakes, though the volume and tone produced unfortunately did not match up to the visual drama.

For both soloist and orchestra, the Maestoso’s development fared better, with an improved balance between pianist and orchestra and moments of more emotive playing from the soloist. The florid technical passages were dispensed with easily, feeling more satisfying than the presentation of the emotive thematic material of the opening.

In Brahms’ sensitivel-written Adagio, I was relieved to hear some more thought-out musical playing from Biss, though occasional moments where the pianist failed to dynamically and interpretively shape more simple phrases were frustrating.

In the third movement’s Rondo, Biss handled the finale’s technical demands consummately, though without much fanfare. A fugal stretto statement of the primary theme in the orchestra’s part was well-executed by Maestro Stern and proved to be one of the more memorable moments of the piece. In sight of the finish line, Biss’ final moments of playing came close to achieving the necessary tone and energy.

I have no doubt Jonathan Biss is a talented young pianist. At thirty, he has a number of enviable awards and honors thanks to a clean, consummate technical ability. Throughout the Brahms, I wondered how different the night might have gone had he been playing something from the Baroque or Pre-Classical eras, a Mozart selection, or a piece of angular mid-twentieth-century literature. His tone would seem to suggest these would be better fits.

Though the program may have come to lackluster conclusion, I certainly felt the evening was worthwhile for Adam Schoenberg’s American Symphony. The piece itself was beautiful, well-crafted, and multi-dimensional, while the Kansas City Symphony’s performance was passionate, devoted, and energetic. I hope the KCS recognizes the success of their commission with Schoenberg and continues to offer the same dedication and support to their future projects.

REVIEW:
Kansas City Symphony
Biss Plays Brahms and World Premiere of American Symphony
Friday, March 4, 2011 (reviewed)
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Lyric Theatre
11th St and Central Ave, Kansas City, MO
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Lied Center of Kansas
1600 Stewart Dr, Lawrence, KS
For ticekts call 816-471-0400 or visit kcsymphony.org.

Top Photo: Adam Schoenberg (Photo by Aleigh Lewis)

By Topher Levin

Classical Editor and Contributor

Christopher (Topher) Levin is a composer, pianist, music theorist, and music blogger based in Kansas City, MO. His compositions have been performed at music festivals across the US and in Europe. He has spent two summers in Paris, France studying music at the Ecole Normale de Musique through the EAMA program. His trio for clarinet, piano, and percussion is published in the SCI Journal of Scores.

Topher holds degrees from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (M.M.) in music theory and (M.M.) in composition and from James Madison University in Virginia (B.M.) in composition. Primary composition teachers have included John S. Hilliard, Paul Rudy, Zhou Long, James Mobberley, Chen Yi, Claude Baker, Narcis Bonet, Michel Merlet, and João Pedro Oliveira. His piano teachers have included Patricia Brady and Karen Kushner. Topher maintains a piano studio of 22 students.

Having recently completed a Master's thesis on the beautiful complexities of Chinary Ung's trio, Spiral I, Topher turned his writing attention to the more informal blogging medium. He has taken to it quite well, sharing posts on strange and wonderful music and art found across the web with a modest but growing number of blog followers. He looks forward to writing for KCM and sharing with its readers the stories of all the amazing musicians performing in Kansas City.