David Loebel, the second of four conductors vying for the post of music director, led the Atlantic Classical Orchestra in a familiar but adventurous program at the Eissey Theatre on Feb. 10.
It was the first evening concert in the series and seats were filled. Was it because it was a light orchestral program of five music gems or that concertgoers prefer the nightlife that has been the norm down the ages?
Blissful perfection purred from this fine orchestra all night long. Forty-two strong, they rank among the best. Loebel’s opening talk spoke of the surface beauty of Ravel’s lovely tunes and his impeccable underpinning craftsmanship.
The La Cenerentola overture of Rossini opened the program. He wrote 39 operas and by the time he got to Cenerentola his overtures had become almost formulaic. However, they are all filled with fine tunes and one has to admire his clever orchestration. Nicely played, the orchestra sounded delicate as fine Belgian lace. What could have come off as an old familiar warhorse opener came across as a well-balanced freshly spun overture under Loebel.
Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite followed. Composed for piano in 1910 to encourage the musical education of a friend’s two children, it was orchestrated and performed as a ballet in Paris in 1912. Solemn, ethereal flutes charge the air in the opening “Pavane for Sleeping Beauty,” only to be joined by a solo clarinet’s melancholy tune. An oboe solo haunts the same tune and finally the English horn rounds it off. Lovely orchestral crescendos end this short piece.
“Hop-o My Thumb” recounts the adventures of Tom Thumb looking for the bread crumbs he dropped to help him home from the woods. He can’t find them. The birds, in the guise of a solo violin and flute, have eaten them all Amy Sims and Christina Burr, were excellent on violin and flute, respectively.
Loebel and the orchestra were equally excellent in the other three sections of the work, which in “The Fairy Garden” cloes with some of Ravel’s lushest music.
Third came Ravel’s Tzigane, with violin soloist and concertmaster Leonid Sigal. It offered music from a maturer Ravel. Written in 1924 for violin and piano, based on a vast store of gypsy tunes played for him by a leading European woman violinist, Jelly d’Aranyi, Ravel orchestrated it the same year. D’Aranyi must have been an astonishing violinist because the level of virtuosity is simply stunning, involving nearly every violin technique imaginable.
Moscow-born violinist Sigal entered wearing a black silk shirt and for 10 or 12 minutes thrilled the audience playing a long solo of gypsy tunes involving intricate left-handed pizzicatos and an intense strong rounded sound similar to that of the late Joseph Silverstein. It was uncanny watching conductor Loebel and the orchestra wait so quietly and patiently as Sigal played his long solo opening. One imagines Romany dancers everywhere kicking up their heels and swirling around to each compelling violin folk tune he played.
Sigal’s energy, as the piece went on, was amazing. The performance overall was a lot of fun, and at the three-chord ending, the audience rose as one to heap praise and kudos on Sigal’s brilliant performance.
Next came Ottorino Respighi’s The Birds, which fuses ancient music with Respighi’s style of 1927, when he wrote the piece. A musicologist, Resphigi sought to revive interest in early music. He first did it with his Ancient Airs and Dances; now we find our way to hearing four very old masters in The Birds.
In the opening Prelude we get to hear previews of each of our feathered friends. It begins with a lively theme by Italian composer Bernardo Pasquini (1637-1710). The beautiful gavotte from the flute, oboe and clarinet is magical. Building to a lovely orchestral crescendo, the piece
returns to the opening theme as it ends.
“The Dove is” first. Based on music by French lutenist Jacques de Gallot (1625-1690), it features a gorgeous languid oboe solo set against harp and muted string accompaniment. The strings pick up the oboe’s melody soaring above everyone; fluttering dove wings described by the violin section’s lovely trills are subtly obvious until the clarinet interjects.
“The Hen” has a touch of humor as the barnyard divas strut and cackle to the music of Jean-Phillipe Rameau (1683-1764). Fussy use of the original tune is reflected in a short duo between oboe and clarinet; the bassoon is also heard. Muted trumpets using staccato rhythms play in the background.
“The Nightingale” is third, with music based on that of an anonymous English composer; I wish I knew who, for it is such beautiful music. The flute opens over drawn strings. A rumbling clarinet and bassoon work effortlessly around them. The solo flute begins to soar in imitation of the nightingale’s captivating calls. A celesta tune is thought to be giving a glimpse of the stars on a clear night. Cellos, double basses and violins repeat the tunes as the full orchestra ends on very low mysterious notes.
For the last bird, “The Cuckoo,” Respighi returns to Bernardo Pasquini. Loebel kept the orchestra under nice control with the opening crescendo, bringing out a lovely warm sound. Music from the earlier Prelude’s grand opening theme returns and all too soon this clever programmatic music is over. A beautiful, fresh interpretation by orchestra and conductor.
Franz Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 82 (in C, Hob: xxx) ended the evening. Composed in 1786 and first performed in Paris a year later it was given the nickname The Bear not by Haydn, but by a young editor who thought the opening drone and fiddle sounds of the last movement were like music for dancing bears. Had the young man traveled abroad from his cocoon he would have renamed it either the Scots Symphony or the Hebridean. The orchestra is imitating bagpipe music for sure.
Tune after tune tumbles from Haydn’s mind in the opening Vivace assai, as the composer weaves his magic around what is clearly a military theme with dissonances and a few harmonic twists. The string stood out in the second movement, playing sweetly, and the ACO brought the third-movement Minuet to life with toe-tapping charm.
Busy strings opened the finale as the full orchestra delivered the bagpipe drone, along with the sound of the chanter, the tiny flute-like tube beginners use when learning to play the pipes. Haydn has fun with this theme. It comes back often to surprise us in unexpected places. The ACO’s brass section sounded very realistic as they brought their bagpipe sounds to the closing of the symphony. The Bear, indeed: A competition must be held to rename it.
Coda: Three young music students from the Dreyfoos School of the Arts played a string trio in the lobby before the concert began. They were Matthew Hakkarainen, violin; Cameron Williams, viola; and Kevonna Shuford, violin. It’s hoped this tradition will continue at future Eissey events.