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Royal Theatre
November 2, 2009
Last Monday, the Victoria Symphony put on a convincing show with its second concert of the season. It was a satisfying mix of old and new, and despite some drawbacks in presentation the music was fun and well executed.
Our ears were eased into concert mode with a popular performance staple by Berlioz. The Roman Carnival overture radiated clear and defined fanfare, and the orchestra never felt sloppy or disjointed. Brass was crisp and rousing, the strings handily managed to conjure the necessary lush romanticism, and the famous cor anglais solo was expertly delivered by Russel Bajer. Only the cellos were occasionally muddy and imperceptible. The piece's aftermath was ugly, however; lights weren't dimmed, musicians milled about, and equipment was clumsily dragged around. Maestra Tania Miller suddenly began speaking to the crowd in the middle of this disorder, and it all seemed very out of place.
After taking some lengths to psych the audience up for it, Miller gave a few teasers of different sections of the Stravinsky. She explained it to me afterwards as a way to make sure audiences don't glaze over after just one atonal note, but it undeniably bogged down the concert, even if just a little. We were rewarded for having sat still patiently by a truly under-appreciated gem from one of the 20th century's great composers. Written in 1923, Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments is a sterling example of Stravinsky neoclassicism, taking forms from ancient composers like Bach and Handel and turning them on their head.
Stravinsky is infamous for having claimed that "music is, by its very nature, essentially powerless to express anything at all." This anti-romantic formality worked wonderfully with the distortion of tonal and rhythmic convention, and was confidently played in a way that made this mix fun and memorable. Soloist Sara Davis Buechner busily launched herself into the cavalcade of notes with offhand, mind-boggling virtuosity. Special kudos goes to Miller, who sank low to the podium, deftly guiding her disciplined ensemble through bar after bar of fluctuating time signatures. Every movement drew "ooohs", "aaaaaahs", and even laughter from the audience, who seemed fully drawn into the giddy but sophisticated charge.
The first half of the performance was a concert; the second was a show. After several long, long speeches the lights were dimmed, a multimedia presentation (expertly produced and directed by astronomer/science visualizer Jose Francisco Salgado, PhD) focused in on a 3-D representation of the Red Planet, and a few discreet musical tremors rumbled through the hall. Mars, the opening to Holst's The Planets, didn't stay discreet for very long at all. Every piece had its theme and style; Mars, the "bringer of war", was accompanied by synchronized imagery of that planet's atmosphere at its most bleak and brutal. Holst has always struck me as having been something like a Hollywood composer (it was impossible not to be reminded of Star Wars), so his music meshed brilliantly with these theatrical qualities.
Both Mars and the last piece, Neptune were particularly entertaining. Neptune was consistently mystical, and stuck out in my mind despite a particularly off-pitch performance from the Victoria Choral Society. The only major disappointment was Jupiter, which was a shame seeing as it's probably the best thing Holst ever wrote. I've heard that it was due to the visual presentation's timing, but nonetheless the piece was taken far below tempo. Near the end of the piece a more sensible pace was reached, but the damage was done. As it stood, Jupiter felt sluggish and fell flat.
All in all it was a very well programmed concert that featured a balanced selection of old, new, easy, and complex. The musicianship was superb, such that everyone on and off stage seemed to be having a blast. That the largest criticisms I have deal with presentation speaks to the high level of musicality involved. The inspiration for the concert was to commemorate the International Year of Astronomy, and if there were any scientists in the crowd I'm sure they left impressed. My Physics teacher certainly was.
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