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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

Whether emerging from the ether or with a bang, the creation of Earth has long been a subject of human fascination. Many composers have used that imagery—be it scientific, religious, or otherwise—for a plethora of pieces.  The Kansas City Symphony performed three such works and tacked on some earthy goodness, courtesy of Dvořák.  The very healthy audience witnessed the creation of something new as well—the establishment of percussionist Martin Grubinger as a solo artist Kansas Citians will be clamoring to hear again.

Intonation issues in the winds plagued the opening piece, Haydn’s “Representation of Chaos” from his oratorio The Creation.  This sparse work is “adventuresome Haydn;” instead of relying on melodic material, the focus instead is on small gestures that seemingly begin a line, only to disappear before their completion. As the piece progressed, the musicians seemed to settle into this more delicate piece than they are use to performing.  I would have preferred a softer timpani mallet as I found the sporadic attacks brittle and out-of-context with the ensemble sound, perhaps that was Haydn’s intent, though.

One hundred twenty-five years later, Milhaud’s Le création du monde, scored for chamber ensemble, offered a completely different take on the birth of planet.  Drawing inspiration from his time spent in Harlem, the work is infused with jazz rhythms and melodic turns.  Also, instead of using a viola to complete the string quintet, Milhaud delightfully opted for an alto saxophone.  The solos across the ensemble were uniformly strong, especially those in the saxophone, trumpet, and oboe (in particularly, the high, second one).  As an ensemble however, some of the groovier sections did not lock in rhythmically as tight as they should have.  It was a delight to hear and watch the two violins interact with one another; they were clearly enjoying themselves and the piece.

The showstopper—and that term is apt as per Avner Dorman’s program note—was the U.S. premiere of Frozen in Time, a three-movement percussion concerto, chronicling the formation of continents and societies through musical snapshots.  “Indoafrica,” the first movement, began with an absolutely fantastic gesture.  It was a raucous ensemble descent, with percussion soloist Martin Grubinger leading the charge.  Grubinger dazzled on the marimba and toms for the majority of the movement.  Dorman drew from South Indian, West African, and gamelan music for his melodic and rhythmic materials.  The result was a rapid, unceasing, florid display of notes performed with dazzling virtuosity by Grubinger.

“Eurasia” was the strongest movement of the work, both in composition and performance.  Seamless timbral exchanges have often been the bane of many fine orchestras—just remember back to last year’s performance of Luca Lombardi’s Flute Concerto. Friday night, with the second movement, I don’t think I’ve ever heard the Kansas City Symphony play as sensitively and convincingly.  It was fantastic. Beginning with the ensemble bass drum intoning a siciliana rhythm, Dorman builds and builds the long slow burn into militaristic ensemble incessancy akin to Shostakovich, Prokofiev, and more recently Giya Kancheli.  Dorman’s audacious writing calls for extremely high and exposed violin playing, even in the seconds.  The melding in and out of unisons was triggered by the soloist's isolated pitches on the vibraphone and glockenspiel.  These soared over diaphanous textures created by a quartet of the soloist (on vibraphone, glockenspiel, and two octaves of crotales), harp, celesta, and piano.  The climax of the movement was forceful, with Grubinger wailing away on ever-ringing crotales and the ensemble pounding out the siciliana, only this time perverted, angular, and jarring.  Grubinger’s accuracy, simultaneously performing on the glockenspiel and vibraphone (set so that he could only see one at any given time) was commendable.  Michael Stern also deserved acclaim for his deliberate pacing and sensitively cajoling what could have been austere music to organically complex.

For all the subtly of the second movement, “The Americas” shattered the mood in whimsical fashion.  This was after all a percussion concerto.  With kick bass drum thumping away and drumsticks flailing, the grunge-inspired rock sections were the most fun.  It’s pieces like this that the bass trombone was made for—low, loud, and proud of it.

The audience rightfully shot to its feet (and this was after applauding each movement individually) coaxing four bows out of Stern and Grubinger.  For an encore, Grubinger looked to his Austrian roots and performed a completely diatonic lullaby on the marimba.  As bombastic as the concerto was, this simple offering was its antithesis.

Ending the evening was Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 in G Major.  There was a disagreement on intonation of the main theme in the very first moments but this was rectified on a later repetition.  On the first hearing of the second theme, the flute’s dotted rhythm was played smoothly. However, later, other wind players interpreted the line with space, more appropriate to Dvořák’s score. Consistency of style is paramount in such cases and the flute’s line should have been more detached.  The Länder third movement was steady throughout and amusingly jaunty.  The horns, playing what has to be one of the best pre-Strauss licks ever set to paper, nailed the fourth movement in its entirety. The performance of the Dvořák summed up the entire concert and the theme for the evening: what might begin as shaky and uncertain, soon congeals, settling on solid firmament.

REVIEW:
Kansas City Symphony
Stern Conducts Dvořák and Haydn
Friday, April 29, 2011, Saturday April 30, 2011, and Sunday, May 1, 2011 (Reviewed Friday)
Lyric Theatre
10th St and Central Ave, Kansas City, MO
 For more information, call 816-471-0400 or visit kcsymphony.org.

Top Photo: Martin Grubinger (Photo by Felix Broede)

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