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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

An audience of about 200 joined the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra for the start of its 25^th season at Old Mission United Methodist Church on Thursday evening. Though the orchestra looked cramped squished between the first pew and the stairs to the pulpit, the hall afforded them fantastic acoustics, with just enough reverberation to color the sound while allowing for clarity.

Clarity was especially important for the soloists. Harpist Deborah Wells Clark of the Kansas City Symphony soloed on Debussy’s Danses sacrée et profane. Harp, and especially French music, can sometimes create a wash of sound that renders rhythm and harmony too muddled. With a sparse compliment of string accompaniment, Wells Clark shined on the character piece. Her harmonics were delicate and reverberant, and the transition between sacred and profane was the most successful moment of the work. This piece is not among Debussy’s best works, but, alas, harpists are forced to take whatever solo repertoire they can.

Solo guitarist Douglas Niedt continued the plucked-string theme with three works. Like the Debussy, Malcolm Arnold’s Serenade for Guitar and Strings is a light, brief character piece. Listening, I was reminded of Morricone’s “Gabriel’s Oboe” from The Mission (fitting because both were film composers). Sweet but not saccharine, Niedt’s playing was sentimental. There seemed to be a timing issue toward the end of the work between Niedt and conductor Bruce Sorrell, but it did not adversely affect the work.

Of the two Vivaldi selections, the latter, Concerto for Guitar in D major, RV 93, was much more successful than the Trio Sonata in C, RV 82. Intonation issues plagued the Trio Sonata, and Niedt seemed ill at ease with embellishing the central Larghetto. The Concerto was another matter. With its exuberant outer movements of sequenced sixteenths, the Largo made the first half of the concert. Where Niedt was hesitant in Trio Sonata’s Larghetto, this Largo was embellished and beautiful like a Baroque aria. The accompaniment was appropriately light and well balanced.

Closing the concert was Copland’s Suite from Appalachian Spring in its original thirteen-instrument orchestration. When presented with restrictions—in this case, the logistics of space for the original ballet performance—it is the great composer who can transform those limits into assets. Copland succeeded; Appalachian Spring is one of the staples of the repertory and the original instrumentation is perfection. It is also fiendishly difficult. The mixed meters and off-kilter entrances present a minefield even for seasoned performers, as do the expansive ranges. Each section had moments of brilliance, but it was clarinetist Jane Carl, flutist Christina Webster, and the violin quartet that shone throughout. Whether negotiating melodic passages in their extreme upper registers or as part the larger whole, these musicians grasped the Copland’s jaunty verve and simple solemnity.

One of the great things about the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra is the willingness to eschew the traditional concert model of opening-soloist-symphony with similarly satisfying results.

REVIEW
Kansas City Chamber Orchestra
Simple Gifts
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Old Mission United Methodist Church
5519 State Park Rd, Fairway, KS
For more information visit http://www.kcchamberorchestra.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