Violinist Worth Waiting For At Santa Rosa Symphony

by Diane Peterson

The Press Democrat, February 13, 2006

(SANTA ROSA) - The Santa Rosa Symphony under guest conductor Bruno Ferrandis served up an eclectic program Saturday night at the Burbank Center for the Arts, leaving no stone unturned in diversity and artistry.

The culminating work of the concert - Shostakovich's moody Symphony No. 1 - was nicely balanced by Mozart's sunny Violin Concerto No. 5, performed by violinist Baiba Skride before intermission.

Both Mozart and Shostakovich were only 19 years old when they wrote these youthful works, which sing with freshness and simplicity. Yet their voices were already full formed, eloquent and mature.

The same could be said of the 25-year-old Skride, who was scheduled to perform with the symphony last February but was forced to cancel at the last minute due to visa problems.

This rising young Latvian violinist was definitely worth the wait, and it would be hard to think of a more perfect way to celebrate the Austrian composer's 250th birthday than with this lively violin concerto.

Wearing an elegant black gown and a girlish ponytail, Skride sailed through the refined Mozart concerto on her Stradivarius with rock-solid intonation and sumptuous string tone.

But more impressive than her technical prowess was her interpretive depth. Skride's playing demonstrated a surprising maturity, embodied by flexible tempos and overarching phrases as well as dramatic dynamics.

The 44-year-old Ferrandis led the orchestra through the Mozart with sensitivity to the dynamic contrasts as well as to the overall ensemble. The French conductor's tempos were brisk but not rushed and his cues at the end of cadenzas were clear.

As the final music director candidate to try out with the symphony, Ferrandis appears to have all the artistic substance one could ask for, including the authority that comes from clear stick technique and the emotional fire that motivates expressive performances.

Tall and thin, with arms and fingers that seem to go on forever, Ferrandis uses movements that are elegant but not overly flashy. In Shostakovich's stirring Symphony No. 1, he sculpted the complex rhythms with precision and kept the ensemble admirably together from one mood swing to the next, bridging the lyrical, Mahlerian sections with the more astringent, Stravinsky moments.

As usual, the woodwinds, brass and percussion executed their solos with aplomb, from the cheeky clarinet theme in the first movement to the ominous timpani solo in the finale.

Ensemble was less cohesive in Mussorgsky's devilishly difficult Night on Bald Mountain, the concert's colorful curtain-opener. It wasn't exactly a train wreck, but the front and back of the orchestra detached from each other for more than a few measures.

Berio's Requies, a contemporary work performed after intermission, featured fluttering flutes, squawking winds and dissonant brass that built to a cacophonous climax, then gradually died away.

Like a pointillist painting, the orchestral work seemed to be a conscious deconstruction of its components. It's hard to say, upon first hearing, whether the whole added up to more than the sum of its parts.

The Santa Rosa symphony will repeat the Saturday program at 8 tonight at the Burbank Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa. $16 (senior) - $59,
546-8742.