San Francisco Classical Voice

Gary Sheldon marked his last concert as music director of the Marin Symphony with an all-Copland concert last Tuesday night, feted at its conclusion by a young woman as "Carmen San Diego" ( the orchestra's youth concert theme) carrying a violin case full of notes from well-wishers, and by the symphony board's presentation of a vacation on a Greek island. Sheldon conducted with an unassuming presence that belied his instincts for the Big Moment. However, lack of attention to the expressive power of Copland's more intimate side kept the concert from being a fully satisfying one.

There is no doubt that Copland's Third Symphony is full of the Grand Gesture. Part of what makes the piece popular are the climaxes that pack such a considerable rhetorical punch. Under Sheldon's direction, these climaxes were suitably impressive. However, the origins of these big moments were given less care. The opening of the piece, an introspective examination of the intervals of the fourth and fifth that are at the core of the whole work, was played with such exuberance and sheer volume as to miss the developmental beginning of the long, inexorable arches that make up the first movement. Similarly, the middle section of the third movement, which develops organically from two notes on the flute, lacked the quiet simplicity that makes the ultimate flowering of this theme so satisfying. Even as broad a statement as the "Fanfare for the Common Man," which introduces the last movement, was without shape, as Sheldon aimed always for maximum power and so, paradoxically, achieved less.

"Quiet City," played before intermission, doesn't have the crowd pleasing benefit of obvious climaxes. Instead, there is a stream of consciousness of lonely desolation. The heart of the piece lies in the writing for two solo parts--trumpet, which contains a huge expressive range,from brassy proclamations to dream-like introspection, and English horn. Soloist Carole Klein played with great passion and lyricism, but without much dynamic range, depriving the piece of much emotional intensity, not to mention half of its name. Laura Chrisp played the English Horn with eloquence. Sheldon elicited a rich yet hushed gorgeous sound from the string orchestra, but led an overall performance that ended up sounding beautiful but shallow, mellow instead of searing.

Also on the program were two slighter works, El Salon Mexico, and the west coast premiere of an arrangement for violin and orchestra of the third movement of Copland's 1942 Sonata for Violin and Piano. Both pieces received lively readings. In these light weight, colorful pieces without the emotional intensity of the rest of the program, Sheldon's big, showy approach worked to the music's advantage, although Peggy Brady, the soloist in the Copland, was sometimes overbalanced by the enthusiastic percussion section.

(Steven Miller is a free lance violinist and teacher.)

©2000 Steven Miller, all rights reserved