Review

Akron Symphony: “World Class Begins at Home”

By Robert Rollin

On Saturday evening January 21, Christopher Wilkins and the Akron Symphony presented an imaginative potpourri concert in E.J. Thomas Hall featuring the orchestra’s own members and friends. When Wilkins directed the San Antonio Symphony he received six ASCAP programming awards, and he continues to show creative imagination.

The Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 performance was the evening’s highpoint. The concerto, a unique masterwork from several perspectives, eschews the violins for a dark instrumentation of two violas, two cellos (originally two viola da gambas) and continuo (cello, contrabass, and harpsichord). It also has a lot of voice crossing and overlapping of instrumental parts. When the composer focuses on the low-range instruments, it represents a special challenge to bring clarity to the voices.

Like much of Bach it requires especially sensitive playing, and the evening’s reading rose to the occasion. The ladies playing second viola and second cello (Jesse Pasternak and Hanna Moses respectively), both under twenty years old, have already distinguished themselves in competitions and youth symphonies. They held their own in the ensemble, though Ms. Pasternak overbalanced principal violist Zachary Collins at times in the second and third movements. The continuo cellist expertly led the continuo part with periodic doubling by principal string bass, Ann Gilbert. The first movement went very well, though the syncopated notes, already appearing in the first viola opening bar, could have received a bit more accentuation throughout. The Adagio was largely effective, but could have had a bit more expression in its final cadence. The closing Allegro is remarkable for the amount of syncopation overlaying the twelve-eight meter, and the ensemble came together for a lovely performance.

Contrasting the Bach, the smallest work in instrumentation, the Stravinsky Pulcinella was the largest of the evening. Originally a comedy-of-errors scenario composed for Diahilev’s Paris Ballet Company, with décor and costumes designed by Picasso, Stravinsky eliminated the three voice parts and reduced the work to eight short and sparkling movements. The charming source music is attributed to Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, as filtered through Stravinsky’s twentieth century sensibility. Pergolesi was an innovative composer at the cusp of the transition from Rococo to Classical style. The performance was excellent.

The “Overture: Sinfonia” had fine solos by principal oboe Terry Orcutt, principal horn Scott Bohannon, and concertmaster Alan Bodman, and a wonderful alternation of small and tutti textures. Alternation of solo oboe and solo violin returned in the “Serenate,” accompanied by plucked strings and a pungent “snap” pizzicato played by the principal cellist. The alternation continued in the “Scherzino-Allegro-Andantino,” with the addition of paired woodwinds and horns. Simple and compound meters also alternated in the movement’s sections. The concertmaster's solos were often too soft. The “Toccata” added more brass emphasis of solo trumpet and horns and a bright piccolo. The more delicate “Gavotta Variations, I and II” were thinner in texture and featured charming treatment of flute and bassoon. The “Vivo” had raucous entries of trombone slides and bowed principal bass emphasizing the lower right side of the orchestra. The “Menuetto-Finale” mixed solos by the principal strings with a full texture. It came to a climax with a brash intense tutti containing ingenious stretto treatment at the close.

Mozart's Haffner Symphony K. 385 adorned the first half. It is a charming piece and was ably conducted by assistant conductor Levi Hammer, who also directs the Akron Youth Symphony. The opening “Allegro con spirito” seemed a tad slow, despite being enlivened by the woodwinds. The remaining three movements went well.

The brightest portion of the first half was harpist Jody Guinn’s gorgeous performance of the Debussy Danses sacrée et profane L. 103. Accompanied by the orchestra’s strings, she played with the requisite delicacy and grace. Maestro Wilkins controlled the flow with poise. Ms. Guinn’s sensitive playing has made her an asset to Northeast Ohio and Western Pennsylvania groups including the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Orchestras.

The concert opened with Copland’s Quiet City for Strings, Trumpet, and English Horn, a ten-minute work in one movement. It was derived from the composer’s incidental music for an experimental play by Irwin Shaw. English hornist Cynthia Warren played her solos beautifully. The two soloists rarely if ever played at the same time and Copland’s intention to create “a tone picture evocative of the nostalgia and inner distress of a society profoundly aware of its own insecurity,” seems overly lugubrious and a bit dated. Principal trumpet Scott Johnston had several problems with the angular skips of the trumpet part.

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Published on ClevelandClassical.com January 24, 2012

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