Season Ends In A Storm Of Explosive Sound  By Diane Peterson The Press Democrat, May 19, 2003 The Santa Rosa Symphony under Music Director Jeffrey Kahane closed its 75th anniversary season Saturday night with explosive sound and fury, showcasing the modern orchestra's brilliant color and power.  The assaultive program of Romantic and 20th-century works by Berlioz, Respighi and Rouse was tailored for listeners who like to be shaken, not stirred.  Together, more than a dozen percussionists, an army of brass and woodwinds and a full complement of strings created a tornado of sound that nearly lifted the roof off the Burbank Center for the Arts.  In fact, it was so loud that some of the musicians chose to play their instruments with one hand while muffling their ears with the other.  The noise factor aside, the challenging program ushered out the season with an impressive display of orchestral pyrotechnics and virtuosity. The excitement may have come at the expense of emotion -- but not musicianship.  The high point of the evening came at the end, with Respighi's splashy ``Roman Festivals,'' the least famous of the composer's trilogy of Roman tone poems. While some critics belittle these pictorial works as schlocky, their popularity remains undisputed.  The orchestra tossed off all four connecting sections of ``Roman Festivals'' with Italianate verve, from the opening fanfare of trumpets to the raucous finale, with its competing rhythms that effectively capture the exploding chaos of a Roman festival.  Throughout all four sections, the piece was punctuated by fine solo work from the concertmaster, principal horn, flute and clarinet players. A sliding solo in the finale by principal trombonist Bruce Chrisp was particularly noteworthy.  The evening's showpiece before intermission -- Berlioz's "Harold in Italy'' featuring guest violist Nokuthula Ngwenyama -- offered both the pleasures and perils inherent in this French perfectionist's works.  In the challenging first movement, orchestral ensemble could have been tighter through the intricate twists and turns of rhythms. But during the second movement, the strings slipped nicely into the groove and polished their sound to a fine sheen.  In the third movement, the birdlike woodwinds nailed the pastoral rhythms with panache. In the tricky finale, the orchestra pulled off the sudden tempo changes, string flourishes and brassy climaxes without a hitch.  Ngwenyama, who performed the Walton Viola concerto with the symphony in 2000, brought understated warmth to the viola solo and exuded a quiet confidence. But occasionally, it was a struggle to hear her sound project above the full orchestra -- at least if you were seated at her back.  The evening opened with Rouse's "Rapture,'' a short work that began with blissful consonance and gradually whipped itself up into a frenzy of sound.  Kudos to the last stand of first and second violins for their solos, and to Rouse for thinking up that interesting twist. Also to Kahane, for navigating the orchestra precisely through the work's changing time signatures.  Before the concert, local poet Dana Gioia, who was recently confirmed as the chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, shared a few of his ideas for keeping the arts alive in America.  "The role of the endowment is to provide leadership,'' he said. "We need to build the budget, and we need mainstream consensus that art is not controversial.''  The Santa Rosa Symphony recently received a $20,000 grant from the NEA to complete a documentary film about last season's collaborative project, ``A Child of Our Time.''  The Santa Rosa Symphony will repeat the Saturday program at 8 tonight at the Burbank Center, 50 Mark West Springs Road, Santa Rosa. Tickets cost $24-$45. Call 546-8742.  You can reach Staff Writer Diane Peterson at 521-5287 or dpeterson@pressdemocrat.com. Keywords: MUSIC REVIEW