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CHAMBER ORCHESTRA REVIEW
February 6, 2004
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By Rebekah Ahrendt
The San Francisco Chamber Orchestra celebrated Mozart's birthday last Friday, indulging in a banquet of treats at Berkeley's First Congregational Church. Friendly introductions by music director Benjamin Simon contributed to the informal party atmosphere,
The program featured pieces by Mozart and his contemporaries Michael Haydn, Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf and Boccherini. Haydn and Dittersdorf were in fact acquaintances and sometime colleagues of Mozart. Though Boccherini and Mozart never met, Boccherini's music was very widely known in Europe at the time. He acquired the nickname “Haydn's wife” because of his tendency to write lyrical, pretty pieces that were considered somehow feminine. Not so in the selection presented this evening. Boccherini's Sinfonie in b minor is nicknamed “La Casa del Diavolo” (The House of the Devil) for good reason. An arrangement of music from Gluck's Don Juan, the sinfonie exploded with the passionate dark energy which typified the Sturm und Drang movement in the arts in this period. Boccherini's rescoring included some gorgeous duo passages for the celli, he himself being a top-notch cellist.
Another big surprise was Dittersdorf's Sinfonie Concertante for viola and double bass, played by Benjamin Simon and Michel Taddei. Originally written to exploit the skill of the famous Viennese violone player Wilhelm Pichelberger, the work really shows off the amazing potential of the double bass as a solo instrument. Simon and Taddei's performance was admirably performed, with breathtaking virtuoso passages on instruments not known for that. The double cadenza at the end of the first movement elicited some chuckles from the audience, as no one expected the types of effects that Taddei and Simon brought out of their instruments.
To deal with the balance problems posed by the low ranges of the solo instruments, Dittersdorf scored minimal accompaniment in the solo sections. The second movement andantino excludes the orchestra completely, leaving the sonority of the viola and double bass to stand alone and be enjoyed fully. The icing on the birthday cake was the performance of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9, “Le Jeunehomme.” The piece acquired its nickname because it was written for the young Miss Jeunehomme, a French keyboard virtuoso who was visiting Salzburg around the time of Mozart's twenty-first birthday. Two hundred twenty-seven years later, Miss Jeunehomme's slippers were filled by the elegant Paul Hersh. This concerto was a turning point for Mozart, and includes many innovations. Instead of the conventional orchestral introduction, the first movement opens with a brief statement from the piano, announcing its presence, after which the orchestra takes over in an extended ritornello. Almost at the moment where the listener has given up ever hearing the piano again, the soloist triumphantly re-enters. Hersh's command of his instrument allowed for seamless integration of solo and tutti sections. His light and spirited articulation perfectly expressed the youthful vigor of the first movement.
The second movement, marked “andantino,” drops into the minor mode and is full of lyrical grace. Especially lovely was the dialogue between the piano and the first violins. The many colors evoked by Hersh's playing highlighted the wild chromaticism of the movement. In the last movement, Mozart really ran wild. Beginning like any other rondo, the piece quickly runs into the realms of the surprising, including an extended folksong-like section that comes out of nowhere. The cadenzas of pianist Hersh throughout the work (one in each movement) were brilliant and inspired, as was the accompaniment of the orchestra. The only problem with the program was its organization. For some reason the orchestra parted out movements of Mozart's Divertimento K. 251 throughout the program. A comment Simon made towards the end of the concert made it seem as if the idea behind the division was to frame the works of Mozart's contemporaries, but it was not clear. Further, playing one movement of Mozart's “A Musical Joke” before the intermission and the rest after it was somewhat strange, especially since bassist Taddei had to retune after the Dittersdorf. The fine playing of the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra coupled with the outstanding performances of the soloists, ensured a great party for Mozart's 248th birthday.
(Rebekah Ahrendt holds the Artist's Diploma in viola da gamba and historical performance practice from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague (NL). Currently, she is a graduate student in historical musicology at the University of California, Berkeley.)
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Paul Hersh
Michel Taddei
Benjamin Simon