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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

Friday night was an emotional evening for the Kansas City Symphony.  This weekend marked the final Classical Series performance for ten-year veteran concertmistress Kanako Ito and the official Classical Series debut performance for Associate Conductor Steven Jarvi.   This program offered very few surprises, as the selection of pieces all came from the renowned Viennese tradition of orchestral music. 

The first piece was Franz Schubert's Overture to Rosamunde.  The piece was sweetly thematic, though not overly dramatic considering it was written with the stage in mind.  The solo voices throughout performed with lilting ease, though some entrances in the accompaniments seemed unbalanced.  While the clarinet accompaniment during the oboe solo needed to be brought forward, the off beats in the trombone section were too pronounced.  There was better balance between the strings and trumpets and a very nice clarinet and bassoon duet, but the oboe didn't quite come up to match the excellent flute solo.  Primarily throughout the piece I felt this push and pull, a good moment tempered by a weaker one, which led to overall disinterest. 

This was followed by Gustav Mahler's Adagio from Symphony No. 10 in F sharp major, preceded by helpful and engaging verbal comments by Jarvi.  I enjoy when a conductor or performer breaks through the fourth wall and presents what is important to them about a work.  The viola section opened, their sound not as warm as is typical, but sorrowful and bare.  Regardless, the messy entrance when the rest of the orchestra joined in did not help the situation, followed by slightly overbalanced chords in the trombone section.  Fortunately, the horn entrance was fabulous, powerful and bright, and the second violins section had a beautiful heart-wrenching soli.  The violas were warmer and more confident in their next entrance, though the entrance in the brass was again messy.  There was a torturous build up brought in by the brass and violins leading into interwoven string lines.  The violas had issues with high pitches in the wide intervalic leaps as the thematic material became more and more disjointed.  There was a slight return to sweetness in the melody when the concertmistress and oboe shared a pleasant moment of conversation that was balanced and pronounced. The teasing build-up continued, no longer sweet and simple; as the chords increased in depth the tuba needed to balance to the basses and came out too prominent.  However, the apex of the piece, a magnificent organ-like moment, was tremendous and brilliantly resonant.  The trumpet dominated the ensemble, his tone soaring through the space.  This was a turning point for the ensemble as well.  The balance between the cello section and bassoon solo was finally matched.  The second violins sections were one of the highlights of the piece, playing each line with a sense of togetherness.  The other highlight was solos performed by the principal oboe, a primary role in this piece and each segment was succinct and delightful.  During the final moments, the lower voices added an appropriate depth to the chords dominated by the higher voices.  With just a tiny burble from the piccolo, the piece ended with a final pizzicato.  As with the first piece, this was overwhelmingly difficult to listen to because of the mismatched presentations from the performers.

After intermission (in which someone infuriatingly rehearsed their excerpt for next weekend's performance), the orchestra prepared to play Mozart's Concerto No. 21 in C Major for Piano and Orchestra with soloist Simone Dinnerstein, who wore a flowing gown of iridescent indigo.  The strings were definitely in their comfort zone with Mozart and performed the opening lines with a warmth that had been missing for most of the first half.  The woodwinds all had excellent solos leading into the entrance of the piano, which balanced agreeably with the orchestra.  Dinnerstein was technically competent, although a little emotionally flat.  Her cadenza seemed to stray outside the realm of Mozart, sounding almost Romantic, but very pleasing to my ear.  The second movement continued with more delicate entrances, lovely woodwind interjections, and excellent balance in the low voices during the sforzandi.  The only tremor came from a heavier right hand when it crossed over to play in the lower register. The third movement had jovial themes, though I thought the articulations were too pointed when not playing runs.  I wish that she'd kept the delicate quality from before.  Overall I was impressed with both the soloist's and the orchestra's performance, though at times the playing seemed more safe than emotive. 

The final piece on the program was a suite from Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss.   This was the strongest piece on the program, a welcome bit of bombast.  Like the Schubert selection, the suite also came from the theatrical tradition and thus offered many musical identities.  A horn fanfare began the dramatic opening line, with a lingering note as the orchestra crescendoed to present the trumpet solo.  Interspersed throughout the sections was a flute and celesta segment whose ethereal quality dispelled a sense of comfort brought on by the more familiar timbres. The oboe once again performed his solos well, though he did come in too strong following the clarinet solo.  After a brief discordant moment with the low strings and brass with the runs in the strings becoming more detached, the music turns pretty again, with a waltzing melody.  This was followed by the duet between the concertmistress and the oboe that shone, exhibiting excellent communication to play a simple sounding melody with control and savvy. There was a slight militaristic foreshadowing in the snare drum as the melody swells with the each entrance of the waltz material and its rich underlying chordal texture.  The trumpet and oboe solos insinuated sorrowful times to follow happiness.  The horn section, with the solo trumpet, both played with magnificent power and control, pushed the build to the climax. After a brief cello solo, the trumpet soared over the orchestra, demonstrating his clear tone and incredible range.  An extended segment with the flute/celesta material, together with the trumpets, led us into the final waltz section, a joyous, boozy romp.  The final chords and the climb to the final release were exciting and an excellent ending to the evening's performance.

Though this performance was not the highlight of the season, there were many moments that make me optimistic for future performances.  Associate Conductor Jarvi had only a few moments of over-conducting, maintaining a safe balance between structured directing and eliciting musical moments.  Kansas City should treasure his enthusiasm.  The skill of the musicians was evident in every piece; now it is necessary to raise the standard of performance as an ensemble from very good to excellent.  There has already been a similar transformation, thanks to performers like Kanako Ito, and my hope as that Kansas City will continue to attract likeminded artists.

REVIEW:
Kansas City Symphony
Mozart, Mahler, Strauss and Schubert
Friday, May 14, 2010 (Reviewed)
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Lyric Theatre
11^th and Central, Downtown Kansas City, MO
and
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Yardley Hall, Carlsen Center
12345 College Boulevard, Overland Park, KS
www.kcsymphony.org

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.