Symphony's East-Meets-West Swing

Only One Number Didn’t Receive A Standing Ovation During Performance

January 22, 2007

By Diane Peterson
The Press Democrat, page B3

The Santa Rosa Symphony revved up its engines Saturday night with a whirlwind musical program that took off in Tibet, swung through China and Paris and landed in the Big Apple.

With new Music Director Bruno Ferrandis back in the cockpit, the East-meets-West concert at the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts sparkled with lively tempi, dynamic contrasts and rhythmic precision.

Ferrandis was on top of his game, giving cues and shaping the sound with a potent blend of rigor and relaxation. His enthusiasm was contagious, coaxing the orchestra to produce a brilliant, burnished sound.

The only work that didn't receive a standing ovation was the curtain-opener, Bright Sheng’s Tibetan Swing, a colorful and cacophonous glimpse into the Far East, with an off-beat meter reminiscent of Igor Stravinsky. Building to a dissonant climax and dramatic pause, Tibetan Swing scales impressive mountains of sound and fury but never adds up to a meaningful whole.

The highlight of the evening came before intermission, with Tan Dun’s Crouching Tiger Concerto, based on the composer’s Oscar-winning soundtrack to Ang Lee’s martial-arts film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Israeli-born cellist Maya Beiser, dressed in a long black jacket, pants and boots, poured her soul into the sensuous and spiritual work, making her amplified cello sound eerily like a Chinese erhu. She produced a rich tone, even high in the register, and held the audience enthralled during her solo cadenzas, which featured a variety of special effects, from strumming and glissandos.

The orchestra gave her solid support, with the percussion section laying down an infectious groove and strong solos by principal percussionist Ward Spangler, harpist Michael Rado, concertmaster Joe Edelberg and principal flutist Kathleen Reynolds.

Although the concerto tends to be bit repetitive, it creates a pulsating tapestry of sound that takes the listener on an intriguing journey outside the expected. Avant-garde composer Tan Dun—currently conducting his new opera at the Met in New York—certainly deserves a place of honor among serious film score composers like Prokofiev, Copland and Bernstein.

The Western portion of the program—Gershwin’s jaunty An American in Paris and Bernstein’s symphonic dances from West Side Story—closed the evening on a high note.
Ferrandis seemed to enjoy the irony inherent in the Gershwin—after all, he’s the “Parisian in America”—and drove home every accent and crescendo with verve. The strings sounded sublime in the opening while the percussion, woodwinds and brass punctuated the Gershwin with angular rhythms and bold solos. Only the climax seemed to falter a bit.

In Bernstein's symphonic dances, the orchestra loosened up like a ’40s dance band, sliding effortlessly into the dance grooves. Kudos especially to the brass and the percussion for pulling out all the stops.

In his third time leading the Santa Rosa Symphony, Ferrandis has proven himself a flexible and formidable interpreter. It will be interesting to see where he takes the orchestra on the next leg of the journey.

The program will be repeated at 8 p.m. today at the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, 50 Mark West Springs Road, Santa Rosa. $27-$50. 546-8742.

You can reach Staff Writer Diane Peterson at 521-5287 or diane.peterson@pressdemocrat. com.

© 2007- The Press Democrat