Tovey helms stunning evening in Saratoga
Published 7:43 pm, Saturday, August 17, 2013
Featured was Jennifer Higdon's "Percussion Concerto," with soloist Colin Currie, which was performed between Bramwell Tovey's "Urban Runway" and Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 in A Major. Tovey conducted the concert.
While the Higdon piece featured percussion, the Tovey piece also bursted with rhythm, and the Beethoven, which Richard Wagner called "the Apotheosis of Dance," featured vibrant rhythms as well. Its second movement, the famous Allegretto, has a constant rhythmic pattern, but is orchestrated so wonderfully that the repeated rhythm doesn't grate or get boring.
Tovey was not only featured as a composer and conductor, but introduced each piece with humor and insight. His "Urban Runway" was introduced as a stroll through the shopping districts of Los Angeles and New York City, but was more of a gallop. I was reminded more of a tour through a backstage lot in Hollywood, overhearing the music from the various films being made — a screwball comedy with its fast-paced witty dialogue, an edgy urban drama, an historical costume drama, etc., culminating perhaps at the commissary with all of the actors mingling in one place.
Philadelphia Orchestra with Colin Currie, percussionist
When: 8 p.m. Thursday
Where: Saratoga Performing Arts Center, 108 Avenue of the Pines, Saratoga Springs
Length: 1 hour, 45 minutes with one intermission
The violas performed a languid retro melody reminiscent of Gershwin as a counterpoint to the fast paced music played by the rest of the orchestra. Unlike Norma Desmond, though, they were actually ready for their close-up.
It may seem like an oxymoron, but Higdon's "Percussion Concerto" was probably too subtle for an outdoor setting. The opening soft section was drowned out by insects, and the lack of four walls accounted for a loss of resonance, and may also have contributed to some lack of synchronization between the soloist and orchestra. That said, it's a wonderful piece, and Currie, for whom the piece was written, gave a bravura performance.
There were some especially nice moments between him and the orchestra's percussionists.
Maybe it's a British characteristic, being able to turn emotionally on a dime. Unlike American method actors, British-style actors can crack a joke offstage and then turn around and deliver King Lear's soliloquy onstage. Tovey was able to go from joking commentary, to delivering a masterful, taut performance of the Beethoven. He brought a composer's sensibility to the piece, not downplaying the delicious dissonances in the second movement, and bringing out the tensile strength of the piece, shaping it masterfully. As is fitting, no single wind instrument stood out, as each player matched dynamics and phrasing. The orchestra sounded great, and the entire performance was stunning.
Mary Jane Leach is a freelance writer and composer/performer.