Review: Concert offers magical display of color
Review: Concert offers magical display of color

Published: April 17, 2007

Musical terminology, an exhaustive lexicon of words printed in Italian rather than English, can be intimidating to casual concertgoers. Wander backstage after a concert and you'll likely hear players discussing a composer's use of tempo (andante, vivace), dynamics (piano, fortissimo) or style (dolce, pesante).

Yet musical color is perhaps the most difficult topic to convey to concertgoers. For we learn at an early age that color generally deals with all things visual (tint, hue, saturation, light, shade). Musicians, however, take a different approach to color. It's aural rather than visual. Used in that sense, it's the sound produced by the combination of various musical instruments.

It could be argued that no concert on the Oklahoma City Philharmonic's 2006-07 season explored color in more depth and variety than the recent classics concert. In Benjamin Britten's "Soirees musicales,” a five-movement suite that opened the program, the combination of piccolo and cymbal struck the ear with its shimmering, metallic sound. A harp flourish paired with a snare drum roll was equally distinctive. Given the infectious nature of its tunes, Britten's "Soirees” made a captivating impression whether one was hearing this music for the first or the 50th time.

Matthew Dane stepped out of his role as principal violist into the soloist's spotlight for an Oklahoma City premiere of Ralph Vaughan Williams' 1934 "Suite for Viola and Orchestra.” Cast in eight movements, this suite captured Vaughan Williams at his most introspective. Dane was an ideal guide through what might be compared to a leisurely walk through the English countryside.

At turns pastoral, melancholy, jaunty and rustic, the suite offered Dane the chance to display an entirely different color palette. The most impressive was the delicate and languid sixth movement, played throughout with a mute in place. But whether invoking British folk song, rustic dance music or a lively fiddle tune, Dane won over the audience with his rich, warm sound and his intelligent playing.

One could describe the second half of this concert as an explosion or a riot of color. Leonard Bernstein's "West Side Story” made musical theater history when it debuted in 1957, and its overwhelming popularity prompted the composer to create a set of "Symphonic Dances” for the concert hall.

This is tricky, challenging music that can catch players off guard with passages that require hair-trigger responses. In addition to playing complex rhythms, players are asked to snap their fingers and shout "mambo” at precisely the right time. While much of this suite captures the musical's livelier moments, principal flutist Valerie Watts' delicate phrasing of "I Have a Love” was especially beautiful.

Having conducted this music in the orchestra pit and the concert hall, Joel Levine knows all the pitfalls and how to avoid them. His complete identification with this music translated into a high-powered reading that captured every magical moment in this striking score.

As for illustrating the full spectrum of orchestral color, there's nothing quite like the Roman trilogy of Ottorino Respighi. This 20th century Italian was a master orchestrator, and his efforts evoke Rome in a variety of moods. The "Pines of Rome” is the best known of the trilogy, and the philharmonic's performance was masterful.

From the shadowy images of "Pines Near a Catacomb” to "The Pines of the Appian Way,” a movement that builds to a shattering climax, this proved to be a thrilling performance. Filled with pounding piano chords, brass flourishes, organ and explosive percussion, this remains one of the orchestral literature's guilty (and most colorful) pleasures.

— Rick Rogers