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New Kid in Town

New York
Isaac Stern Auditorium, Carnegie Hall
02/09/2008 -  
Richard Strauss: Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks
Steven Mackey: Time Release (New York premiere)
Claude Debussy: Prélude to the Afternoon of a Faun
Igor Stravinsky: Firebird Suite (1918 version)

Colin Currie, percussion
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Marin Alsop (Music Director and Conductor)


If Marin Alsop wanted to make a punch with her premiere performance in New York with the Baltimore Symphony, she certainly chose the right program. The three warhorses, all written within 16 years of each other, were familiar enough not to challenge New York’s conservative audience. But playing this trio, with their individual Russian, French and German coloring, and a plethora of first-chair solo work would be a challenge to any orchestra.

The Baltimore group, alas, used to be “any” orchestra. It was never mentioned among the top three, rarely among the top ten. David Zinman brought life to their string choirs, and made a number of fine recordings, especially of American music.

But last year, Baltimore picked up a public relations jolt with the appointment of Marin Alsop as Conductor and Music Director. Alsop had already made a reputation in the United Kingdom with the Bournemouth Symphony, garnered her modern music merits by leading a California contemporary music festival, and has raised her baton in front of most of America’s symphonic ensembles. But the appointment of a female conductor to a burgeoning major orchestra was a fortunate crack in the “glass baton.”

Her concert here was most impressive, though it took a few minutes to accustom oneself to what looked like an awkward baton technique. Compared with the fluid recent work of Muti and Jansons, it was hardly balletic, but for Strauss’s Till Eulenspiegel, the effect was perfectly appropriate. The orchestra had electrifying attacks, powerful crescendos, and—above all—some stunning work from the first-chair players. Praise must go to for clarinetist Steven Barta and horn-player Philip Munds.

The New York premiere of Steven Macky’s work for orchestra with percussion, with emphasis on Colin Currie’s marimba work. Yet this was not a tour de force for Mr. Currie. The three movements had almost a relaxed quality through most of the three movements. The first was a simple theme with variations which gave body to and enhanced the marimba itself. The second started with some blazing tones from two trumpets (one almost echoing the sounds of the marimba), ending with a Bernstein-like sound of joy. The finale began with a rhythmic scale, some deft work soloist and orchestra and a delightful ending.

After the intermission, Alsop gave what I felt was the most successful work, Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, The mood was understated but the tension never let up, the orchestral effects were confident, and flautist Emily Skala played beautifully.

The final work, Stravinsky’s first suite from Firebird, was conducted with emphasis on the great climaxes. One missed what can sometimes be an intimate look at the orchestral colors, but it was a crowd-pleaser, and quite rightly a triumph for a most attractive orchestra.



Harry Rolnick

 

 

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