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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

I was giddy for Respighi’s Feste romane instead of the more audience friendly Fountains or Pines of Rome. Yes, it’s flashy and yes, some will call it trashy, but I’ll ignore the criticism because Feste romane is just so damn fun. What I was not expecting on Friday night’s under-attended performance by the Kansas City Symphony were two gems of the repertory that I have never come across on any of my recordings, concert goings, or academic studies.

Verdi’s Overture to I vespri siciliani set off the evening in grand fashion. This was an evening of theatricality and drama. While the opening 32nd notes were not tight rhythmically, the latter timbral blend of clarinets and bassoons and all-around solid string playing were vivid and refined.

Foregoing a traditional soloist, the Kansas City Symphony instead substituted the Kansas City Symphony Chorus for Verdi’s Quattro pezzi sacri. Upon the work’s conclusion I was surprised I had never before encountered it. Orchestrated for large orchestra and chorus, it is more economically feasible and less daunting than the mammoth Requiem and almost as enjoyable. The first movement, a glorious Ave Maria for chorus alone, was an exploration of the scala enigmatica, a scale without an ascending perfect fourth or fifth from the tonic: two primary elements of standard tonal chord progressions. Instead of dwelling in woe on the unusual harmonies, the Charles Bruffy-coached ensemble approached the piece very musically with strong diction and sense of line enticed forth by guest conducter Roberto Minczuk. The orchestra joined the chorus for the second and fourth movements, a Stabat Mater and Te Deum, respectively. The second movement was marred by the chorus going flat just before one of the orchestral entrances. The third movement, “Laudi alla Vergine Maria,” for female voices was suitably lovely and much of the vibrato was rightfully toned down making the overall effect relatively contemplative. The Te Deum shattered the contemplative nature by allowing the orchestra to unload their full sound in some glorious climaxes.

After hearing four movements of Busoni’s Turandot Suite I can simply say those movements weren’t enough. I savored the delightful orchestrations akin to Ippalitov-Ivanov's Caucasian Sketches, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Respighi and would have welcomed the whole set. Busoni’s pianistic tradition is evident in his wind writing. He wrote some nasty florid scales that were not executed as nimbly as they should have been. The seventh movement (performed third) was a demented waltz that Danny Elfman could only dream of composing on his best of days. The final movement’s double-tongue passages quickly became rough after the first very precise bar. The “alla turca” string embellishments were tossed off with panache.

Needing to top the bombastic Verdi Sacred Pieces, the symphony turned to Respighi’s Feste romane. Tempos throughout were fast—perhaps too much so—especially in the “October Festival.” Instruments throughout were loud—perhaps too much so—especially in the “Epiphany.” Intonation was suspect in places—perhaps too much so—but that can be expected of Respighi; crank it up to 11 and play the beast. The off-stage trumpets added brazen flare and it was joy to watch the entire audience lean forward and crane their necks trying to locate the source of the mandolin solos (it was played from viola section). Although the brass playing was rock solid throughout the piece, Feste romane was not all crash and blare. The strings were especially expressive even if pressed by the overly fast tempos, and the chant-like passages were played with a subtle sense of serenity. In an evening of overwhelmingly unsubtle music, these moments were especially revelatory.

REVIEW:
Kansas City Symphony and Chorus
Roman Festival
Friday, October 22, 2010 . (reviewed)
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Lyric Theatre
11^th and Central, Downtown Kansas City, MO
For more information visit http://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