Outdoor Concert Evening Of Enjoyment

Mozart on a Summer’s Eve Tuesday night, July 22, Duncan Gardens at Manito Park

Mozart on a Summer’s Eve has become so popular that last year Connoisseur Concerts expanded the event to two consecutive evenings. Tuesday night when I attended, the 36 tables were nearly full and there were a couple hundred more people on the lawn. If Wednesday was anything close to that, the decision to do two performances was certainly not mistaken.

Since the woodwind octet and the singers perform without amplification, there is a limit to how many may attend. This is because the sound will only travel so far, and the incremental increase in rustling and whispering would eventually bury the music. As outdoor concerts go, however, the sonic and visual distractions were minimal, and did not compromise the enjoyment of a wonderful evening.

Outdoor concerts are also expected to take a variable percentage off the performance level of the artists because of wind-blown music, temperature-sensitive instruments and the like. But I would hate to think that a casual atmosphere also automatically means a relaxing of musical standards.

The concert’s opening canon was fired antiphonally, so the round would go over everyone. It is tricky to stay in time at a distance, and I had a sense that there was some hesitation among the players while waiting for the sound to arrive.

The next transcription, an adagio originally written for clarinets, was not nearly as sublime as it could have been, even outside. In one transgression, the horns rushed into a cadence where the clarinets feared to tread, shattering the sanctity of a phrase. There were enough of these occasions that the magic was surely lost.

The grand illusion was restored, however, in Mozart’s Motet, “Ave Verum Corpus.” The musical lines require effort to sustain, even where there are walls to help, and the ensemble did yeoman’s work, singing out to the grass and sky.

The addition of an opera excerpt served to break up both the otherwise continuous woodwind texture and the audience. With hints of costuming and an English translation, the comic elements of a scene from Mozart’s “Cosi fan Tutte” were enough to elicit titters and guffaws from the masses. With sextet singing, the occasional word is lost even under the best of circumstances, but the vocal ensemble had no trouble communicating their text and message onto the lawn.

Sean Barker’s transcription of the Piano Sonata No. 17 was deft, making it seem like an original serenade. Choice of material is much of the work, and Barker chose wisely. The recently graduated Spokane Valley high school student has created something as good or better than much published material. But the devilish oboe parts he created could have used more preparation time from the musicians.