Reviews: Digits, Amadeus and Dmitri

Digits, Amadeus and Dmitri

by Jeff Dunn
San Francisco Classical Voice, February 14, 2006

Centuries and quarter-millennia: Where would they be without fingers? Itâs due to our fingers that we use numbers to the base 10, two hands of five, thus celebrating 2006 as the 250th anniversary of Mozartâs birth and the 100th of Dmitri Shostakovichâs. And where would French conductor Bruno Ferrandis be without his remarkable left index finger?

All of the above came together in a fine concert of the Santa Rosa Symphony, which is looking for a music director to lead beyond the estimable legacy of Jeffrey Kahane. Ferrandis was the last of seven candidates for the post. In a preconcert on-stage interview, he won warm smiles when he revealed that his number-one priority was to "make sure my musicians are happy!" Along the way, he promised "to make contact with eyes and hands, and try to get the music substance out of them."

Music substance indeed was extracted, thanks to Ferrandisâ careful, analytic, yet energized style of musicmaking, much of which was accomplished with that left finger, again and again cueing in his players with spot-on timing and associated body movements to suggest the proper character of each entry. This ãpointillisticä approach, along with keeping a lid on the volume of sound production, enabled details to emerge that become lost with other conductors.

The concert began, as pointed out by Steven Ledbetterâs notes, with Rimsky-Korsakov's ãbowdlerizingä of Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain. Rimsky-Korsakov was no doubt well intentioned, but the time has come to consign strictly to Fantasia this cover-up of Mussorgsky's genius, now that the original is more commonly programmed (e.g., Esa-Pekka Salonenâs revelatory performance with the San Francisco Symphony in April 2004). The painted-over warhorse wasnât helped by some ragged playing in the brass.

Fives wild

Next came a finger-friendly piece full of fives: the fifth violin concerto by a man with five names, the fourth of which he used five different ways. "Amad�" was the name that graced the program, although Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgang Theophilus Mozart also used "Amad�," "Amadeus," and "Gottlieb."

The fingers for the concerto were provided by the young Latvian violinist Baiba Skride. Her finest asset is her tone, highly suitable to the clarity of the composition. Her technique was unquestionable, note-wise, but her anxiety and inexperience show when sheâs not playing. Grimaces, a nervous shifting posture, and the turning of her violin upside down as if a penny would fall out ÷ all distracted from the matter at hand. Also desirable was a tad more passion, bits of which came out during the ãTurkishä sections of the third movement. Minor complaints aside, Skrideâs overall musicianship is commendable, and should only improve as her career matures.

After intermission Ferrandis led the orchestra in Requies, completed in 1985 by Luciano Berio in memory of his first wife, the soprano of amazing range, Cathy Berberian, who died two years earlier. The piece impresses, unlike its dedicatee, for its lack of range, the amazing number of things that can go on, piano and pianissimo, small ineffable flutterings scattering about the orchestra like the last vibrations from a bell. Many notes availed themselves of few pitches, concentrating especially around C-sharp, and many entries of musicians were sharply articulated by Ferrandisâ nimble finger. Ferrandis rates Berio as one of the great ãEuropean Mastersä along with Stockhausen, and his admiration must have been reflected in the work he put into the rehearsal, for the orchestra replied with an outstanding performance that put the earlier Rimsky/Mussorgsky to shame.

Not all of the audience responded to the European Master, as out of nowhere a series of coughs continually accompanied the tribute to Berberian. But Shostakovichâs Symphony No. 1 was an effective cough drop, without the crinkling cellophane, grabbing its listeners from the outset and leading them through to a cheering, standing ovation at the end. Also cured was the brass section, which performed magnificently. Throughout, Ferrandis' deft finger kept the many motives perfectly in formation yet spirited in character. The second movement scherzo/trio, with its scampering strings, silent-movie-house piano diddlies, and earworm wind tune, was a particular standout.

From all appearances, Ferrandis would be a strong candidate for the vacancy. Has anyone asked him what the Nice native thinks of California wine yet?

(Jeff Dunn is a freelance critic with a B.A. in music and a Ph.D. in geologic education. A composer of piano and vocal music, he is a member of NACUSA and president of Composers Inc.)