Adept pairings stand out at Paris-themed concert
One of the pleasures of the Spokane Symphony’s intimate Casual Classics series is that we almost always learn something new from the conductor’s onstage chats.
The most startling thing I learned from conductor Morihiko Nakahara at this Paris-themed concert was that the Concierto de Aranjuez for Guitar and Orchestra by Joaquin Rodrigo “was the most famous 20th century concerto.”
And then he added, “for any instrument.”
Really? That just made me more embarrassed that I had never heard of it.
And then, guitarist Steven Novacek and the orchestra began to play.
Oh, that concerto. It was instantly recognizable, and not just to classical music fans, but to jazz fans, too.
This is the concerto that kicks off the classic 1959 Miles Davis album, “Sketches of Spain.” It’s a sun-drenched, flamenco-tinged evocation of Spanish music and culture.
At the Bing Crosby Theater, we heard it the way it was originally intended, as a virtuoso piece for classical guitar. Novacek, with his guitar lightly amplified through a small speaker, demonstrated a thorough mastery of the complex flamenco-style rhythms and lightning-fast single note runs.
When the orchestra joined in at full power, it was an exhilarating experience. The crowd was so taken with Novacek that they called him back repeatedly until he obliged with a brief solo encore.
The concert was full of other highlights. Ravel’s “Le Tombeau de Couperin” was a spry, fresh, festive piece, reminiscent of Ravel’s famous tone poems. Nakahara told us that Ravel had two purposes in mind: to evoke the Golden Age of French music and to pay homage to friends lost in World War I.
As homages go, it’s surprisingly spritely, and as an evocation of the past, it sounds surprisingly modern. Clearly, Ravel went beyond his original inspirations to create his own utterly distinctive masterpiece.
Nakahara admitted that his real purpose in programming this concert was to pair the Rodrigo concerto with the Ravel piece, which he did in the first half. His instincts were absolutely correct; they were delightful together. But what to do with the second half of the concert?
Nakahara opted to program two short symphonies, one by Mozart and one by “Mozart Noir.”
“The Black Mozart” – that’s the nickname given to Joseph Boulogne Saint-Georges, a Mozart contemporary who was half African. We heard his Symphony No. 2, which was a pleasant and Haydn-like lead-in to the real Mozart.
Mozart’s Symphony No. 31 in D major (The “Paris” Symphony) was a fine showcase for the full orchestra, proving that the Parisian orchestras of Mozart’s day had nothing on this group. Nakahara said Mozart wrote this for a Parisian orchestra locally famous for being able to open with a full-orchestra flourish from a standing start. Mozart, in one of his letters, sarcastically noted that he had, in fact, heard orchestras outside of Paris that were also capable of starting together.
Yet he threw in a pounding opening flourish, just to keep the locals happy.
The symphony was in particularly fine voice on this piece, particularly in the dueling-violin passages.
And I am pleased to report: The Spokane Symphony is perfectly capable of starting all together as well.