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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

In the penultimate concert of the 2009-10 season, the Kansas City Symphony offered up repetition. Thankfully repetition did not equal boring. Under Michael Stern's baton, Debussy's simple descending-ascending oft-repeated solo flute passage, Higdon's arch-form and textural reiterations, Hindemith's passacaglia, and Ravel's incessant ostinato and melody showcased how four different composer approached the valuable technique of musical repetition.

Michael Gordon's solo flute was so sensitive and delicate during the opening of Claude Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune that it was nearly obliterated by audience members still shuffling to their seats. It was a shame they weren't rapt with attention because they missed some exquisite playing and probably ruined it for those around them. Luckily I was far enough away to only be mildly annoyed. His refined sense of tone emulated a reed flute; it was superbly underplayed and not overly romanticized. Rightfully Gordon left the languid sensuality to the main body of the orchestra and principal oboist Mingjia Liu. Debussy's score is a masterpiece and holds up remarkably even with slight mistakes, like the occasional cracked brass entrance or uncoordinated pizzicato.

Unfortunately Jennifer Higdon's Singing Rooms did not hold up as well. Less "Concerto for Violin" and more "Orchestral Poem with Choir and Violin obbligato," it was monumental work of seven elided movements. Maybe because of the elisions, the piece seemed to be dragged down by its own length and constancy. Higdon's orchestration is very thick. This trait haunts many of her pieces since the brilliant Concerto for Orchestra, especially in those involving a soloist including the Oboe Concerto. The thick palette the soloist must compete against, relegates the soloist to just sawing away with little chance for finesse, straining to be heard. And Jennifer Koh is a soloist that deserves to be heard.

On the more exposed sections, like the sixth movement "A Word with God" her nearly canonic duet with the English horn was refined and eloquent. Otherwise, her sounded was annihilated because of the brash orchestra parts as in the fifth movement "History Lesson." Higdon excels in her textural percussion writing although I felt there were some questionable choices. At times, the mallets prescribed were too hard for the surrounding sonic landscape and the timbre of rute against the shell of the bass drum was far too piercing, even with percussionist struggling to play as soft as possible. The choral portions of The Singing Rooms were choppy and marred by the same issues of the orchestra writing, this rendered much of the text indecipherable. The Kansas City Symphony Choir matched the energy of Koh and the orchestra despite some wonky releases in the opening movement and wide vibrato of the sopranos. I wanted to like the piece and performance more than I did - I was left just as frustrated this hearing as when I first heard the Philadelphia Orchestra perform it. The audience reception was less than enthusiastic as well.

Hindemith's Nobilissima visione was the toss away piece on the program even though the orchestra did not perform it as such. There were many nice moments in it. The vibrant opening movement showed the string section in very good form on the unison passages. Chris McLaurin's accompanying drum solo and Diane Schick's piccolo playing in the March section of the second movement was jaunty and snappish. But, the Passacaglia was my favorite moment of the evening. The passacaglia theme was well balanced throughout and allowed for the brass and strings players to unleash their sound. Resplendent trills and flourishes marked the ending but never once was it garish. The orchestra seemed comfortable, but not complacent, and the piece played to the strengths of the ensemble. I find in delight discovering these gems of the orchestral literature and I thankful it was programmed.

Maurice Ravel's Bolero, as overplayed and scoffed at as it may be, is still a thrill to hear live. A lot of time is frequently devoted to how the various orchestra members interpret the omni-present melody. Cursory judgments so we can focus on other issues: solo flute, E-flat clarinet, oboe d'amore, soprano sax, and celesta all get high marks and solo clarinet, bassoon, and tenor sax all pass. When compared to the other solos, the trombone, trumpet, and piccolos were too weak, too staccato, and too competing, respectively. Chris McLaurin's ostinato on solo snare drum was an expertly paced crescendo from beginning to end. Associate principal flutist, Shannon Finney displayed rock-star endurance, pristine articulation, and pitch stability in her treatment of the bolero rhythm. The trumpets fared worse, however, as their pitch went flat and Stern had to refocus his conducting attention in order to lock them back into the exacting rhythm. Some notable performances of the otherwise unsung accompanimental parts were tubist Steven Seward and harpist Deborah Wells Clark. Seward's pitch was focused and robust but never once overpowered. Wells Clark's sound colored the pizzicato string chords with an articulate crispness that had just enough bite and body.

Hopefully the grand finale concert next weekend will keep up the momentum and end the season on the best possible note.

REVIEW:
Kansas City Symphony
Bolero
Friday, May 21, 2010 (Reviewed)
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Lyric Theatre
11^th and Central Streets, Downtown Kansas City, MO
For more information visit www.kcsymphony.org

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