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SYMPHONY REVIEW A Muscular Outing September 21, 2002
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By Mark Wardlaw
The ongoing thaw in (ex-)Soviet-American relations was metaphorically represented Saturday night by the stifling heat in Vallejo's Hogan Auditorium where the Kiev Orchestra and Chorus performed. The near-capacity crowd enjoyed a warm, heartfelt event that was equal parts concert, prayer meeting, armchair travelogue and fundraiser for the Vallejo Symphony Orchestra.
The Kiev contingent is on an extended tour of the United States that began in Minnesota and continued through a number of northern and western states before their arrival in Vallejo. This concert was organized and sponsored by the Vallejo Ministerial Association. In existence for only nine years, the Kiev Symphony and Chorus is Ukraine's only private orchestra. This assemblage is the creation of Dr. Roger McMurrin, an American who traveled to Kiev in 1992 shortly after the fall of communism to hire musicians for a performance of Handel's Messiah. The resulting performance, conducted by McMurrin, was a milestone experience because the Soviet regime had forbidden the performance of any music of a Christian nature. McMurrin and his wife Diane moved to Kiev in 1993 to begin Christian missionary projects such as the construction of houses, churches and hospitals, and to establish this ensemble.
The performance, alas, was uneven at best. Those in the audience who were expecting great works by Russian masters instead got a potpourri of styles and composers presented almost in musical revue fashion. The proceedings had a decidedly religious flavor. This might have been the perfect approach for this audience, many of whom, judging by the constant palaver and restlessness, appeared to be classical music neophytes. There were no full-length works included on this concert and there were no printed programs made available for the audience. This helpless reviewer was forced to attempt to decipher the complicated names of performers and some composers as announced by McMurrin.
The orchestra playing was possibly the loudest I've ever heard. When they merely played forte it was a relief. The sheer volume was remarkable given that the Kiev is a small orchestra consisting of 16 violins, 5 violas, 4 celli, 3 basses, and full brass, woodwind and percussion sections. The brass playing was overbearing all night, with a volume level approaching that of a marching band. There simply was no subtlety in evidence. The finale of Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto featured a 19-year-old girl whose heroic efforts were crushed under insensitive orchestral accompaniment. It was hard to know whether her anguished facial expression at the conclusion of the piece indicated fatigue or relief that she was, at least for this night, out of her misery. Curiously enough, some of the technical playing in the orchestra was first rate. Rimsky-Korsakov's Procession of the Nobles, performed while ushers passed buckets around the hall to collect donations for the Vallejo Symphony, was a perfect choice for this brass section that executed the difficult articulations with assurance and ensemble precision. The brief opening piece (new to me, and for good reason) signaled that this concert wasn't going to be what I expected. The theater got really loud when the nearly 100-member chorus coursed through the aisles and onto the stage to incredibly shlocky, “Hollywoodish” music that turned out to be an introduction to Beethoven's “Ode to Joy.” Tenor and soprano soloists remained up front to wage an almost athletic battle with the forces behind them. She screeched, he belted, the audience swooned, and I recoiled. What had they done to Beethoven? This “arrangement” took a temporary turn for the better when it progressed to the 9th Symphony's intact march and fugue from the last movement. The orchestra played the entire excerpt too loudly but, to be fair, there was considerable technical skill on display. Sadly, a clanging anvil signaled the end of the “real” Beethoven and a return to Hollywood. Three different women conductors who work in Kiev's three opera houses led an array of choral pieces, with varying degrees of success. The a capella pieces often suffered from an apparently international malady of steadily flattening pitch and blocky, almost pedantic phrasing. One of the conductors shone for her ability to coax some shape from an otherwise nuance-free zone. Some of the more enjoyable choral presentations featured Ukrainian folk songs and folk instruments and performers in native costume.
The best performances of the evening came from the stellar tenor and baritone soloists who delivered world-class renderings of well-known arias such as the duet from Verdi's Don Carlo and the famous tenor aria from Pagliacci. I was briefly comforted to see the conductor's outstretched left hand in a plea for restraint from the orchestra as they accompanied these magnificent voices. Unfortunately her pleas were largely ignored. The final number was the quintet from West Side Story — sung in Russian. Although the audience loved this piece, it struck me as being similar to going to New Orleans to see a production of Oklahoma. It just wasn't what I wanted from these performers. Still, it was hard not to root for these people. They are in just their 11th year of autonomy, earning the average Ukrainian wage of $80 per month and struggling with a nascent brand of capitalism. It was comforting to see so many audience members snatching up the various Ukrainian souvenirs during the intermission.
(Mark Wardlaw is a clarinetist in the Santa Rosa Symphony. He performs frequently in solo recitals and in chamber ensembles. In addition, he is a saxophonist and the director of instrumental music at Santa Rosa High School.)
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