Opening night - there is nothing quite like it. A sense of wonderment fills the air, as the orchestra sets up. The ordinary stage and seating area has an atmosphere of perfection, each hue of paint adorning the walls, each light shining down from above, each chair being placed are all choreographed to produce the precise conditions necessary for musical grace to evolve. Evolve it does. The stage was set, so to speak, by an adventurous idea from the Marin Symphony: Let's have the conductor interview a writer who is from the Bay Area, and has actually chosen the set list for the evening. Alasdair Neale and Tobias Wolff sit together and talk about themselves for an half hour, giving the audience members who attend the talk an experience of two bright minds getting ready to do what they (and we) enjoy immensely: Listen to Gershwin's music. The talk being over, the Gala attendees pour in (having paid too much money to be bothered with opinions of people like writers and conductors), and soon the Big Bang of the night takes place. Mr. Neale walks on to stage to a cacophony of applause, bows a couple times, shakes the hand...
Tonight's all-Gershwin season-opener at the Marin Symphony was a lesson in combining accuracy with spirit. "I want to recreate it as I think Gershwin would have intended," Music Director Alasdair Neale remarked in his pre-concert talk with author Tobias Wolff, and the first two pieces of the night reflected that philosophy - limited expression within the piece's technical constraints. Neale loosened up in the second half, however, with the help of pianist Keisuke Nakagoshi, whose free-wheeling attitude and unexpected rhythms filled "Rhapsody in Blue" with the passion that Gershwin intended, flying the concert on to its spirited conclusion. But the night's wild atmosphere didn't start with the concert. 300 guests attended a pre-concert gala dinner, complete with food, costumes, and three Model A Fords parked in front. To complete the Twenties atmosphere: a newly-invented cocktail called the "Blue Rhapsody," containing mostly vodka but with enough blue curacao and triple sec to give it some flavor. According to one bartender, roughly half of the 300 gala attendees tried the cocktail, and the rest stuck to more tradition drinks. The gala's "roaring Twenties" theme set the perfect pre-concert atmosphere for participants and for the concert-goers who passed by. Meanwhile, Neale discussed...
A few days ago, my new friend Sarah was discussing conducting with me, and she helped me realize that I favor a highly interpretational approach. The virtue of performance is that it's different every time, so I appreciate when inventive conductors find new and different ways to express the meaning of a piece. Within the bounds of the writing, of course, but a live orchestra is a unique opportunity for a different and differently engaging performance. Every time. Tonight's concert of the University of the Pacific's Concert Band and Wind Ensemble exemplified that philosophy. Conductor Eric Hammer used the pieces as building blocks to create a dramatic arc that spanned the entire first half of the concert. The first piece, a lively Gordon Jacob overture featuring the brass section, cut off into the woodwind-heavy opening of Vaughn Williams' "Rhosymedre." This was the same Walter Beeler arrangement that I've played before, but Hammer cleanly highlighted the chorale on which the piece is based. The Concert Band played it delicately but with emotion, which isn't hard with such an inspiring theme. Guest conductor Brian Leff followed with a Frescobaldi toccata. His delivery was impressive, full of a lot more expression than Renaissance-era...
