San Francisco Classical Voice

The San Jose Chamber Orchestra concert last Sunday at San Jose's Petit Trianon was a perfect example of a thoughtful and brilliantly designed puzzle box that contains prizes inside of prizes. Nominally at least, all but one of the works conducted by Barbara Day Turner dealt with the subject of the passing of seasons. There was the "Winter" concerto from Vivaldi's Four Seasons, a suite extracted from Tchaikovsky's 12 piano pieces, The Seasons (arranged for string orchestra by Wolfgang Hoffmann), Elegy by David Avshalomov, and Winter Memories by Mona Lyn Reese, a San Jose resident.

But how does Elegy relate to this theme? That's one of the secret prizes. Its inclusion makes sense only when you know that composer Avshalomov of New York is the son of conductor Jacob Avshalomov of Portland and the grandson of composer Aaron Avshalomov (1895–1964) of Nikolayevsk (Siberia), Beijing, and San Francisco. You must also know that in 1958 grandfather Aaron wrote a composition for then-12-year-old grandson David and that in 1989, on the 25th anniversary of his grandfather's death, 43-year-old grandson David returned the gift by writing this work in his memory. Thus we have a poignant and moving analogy for the passing of the seasons.

Brilliant as the programming was, there were problems in execution. For the Vivaldi, Turner took her place at the harpsichord and the concerto was performed without conductor. As a consequence, some ragged entrances and balance problems (too much cello and bass in the middle movement) diminished the overall effect of an otherwise-excellent performance by concertmaster Cynthia Baehr.

Prior to the performance, Turner read Vivaldi's explanatory sonnet for this concerto. It is such attention to detail that makes Turner's programs so interesting, exciting, and worthwhile. I was also delighted to see that the SJCO, with only three exceptions, was all female, because this recalled that most of Vivaldi's music was written to be played by the famous all-woman orchestra at Venice's Ospedale.

The Tchaikovsky consisted of six extracts from his 1875 12-composition piano suite, one work for each month. It is a pleasant but undistinguished work that, in Hoffman's transcription, presents the months in a different order than Tchaikovsky requested: March, February, April, June, December, and September. It was good to hear something by Tchaikovsky being played in December that is not The Nutcracker.

Elegy is a lovely but complex composition. Though originally written in memory of Avshalomov's grandfather, the composer later dedicated the work to the memory of Leonard Bernstein, following his death in 1990. The piece has a touching connection to both men, and that's wonderful.

Four of the five movements are introspective, as you'd expect in an elegy. Yet I couldn't help but react positively to the jazzy fourth movement, a section that has been described as Mahlerian, neurotic, and consumed with the idea of death, conjoined with the scat-singing of Cab Calloway. This is a work I would very much enjoy hearing again. It wants a couple of repeats to soak up that much thoughtful writing.

The jazzy and upbeat movement of Avshalomov's work was well matched by the final movement of Mona Lyn Reese's Winter Melodies, where excerpts from "String of Pearls," "Flat-Foot Floogey with a Floy-Floy," and "In the Mood" were used as variations on her original tune, "Hot Chocolate." This is a complicated work, with all sorts of compositional technicalities being used to create images of despair and bitter cold. The musical picture of a rose, petals black with frost, is especially cleverly done.

Both composers were in the audience to accept the warm applause. Because the tunes Reese selected for the variations were from the 1940s, I expected her to be a silver-haired dowager approaching her dotage, perhaps a fan of the Andrew Sisters, Glen Miller, and Slam Stewart. Surprise! She is attractive and much younger, and a woman with a nostalgic flair and a terrific sense of humor in her compositions.

The orchestra plays well under Turner's direction. The attack and intonation problems may have been a consequence of too little rehearsal time. Turner is a very good conductor, though with one noticeable weakness of mirror conducting. She cues well, sets excellent tempi, and has an easy and affable personal charm. She's going big places.

It's no easy job to create a concert program of compatible compositions like this one. Mostly you see lineups that resemble the musical equivalent of a California gift box: a salami, Comice pears, foie gras, plum jam, and smoked almonds — each item delicious by itself, but an unpalatable combination. Great programs present compositions that harmonize with one another, which means that the works performed have some logical reason to be offered on the same program and that the key relationships are compatible. This one certainly qualified.

(Musicologist/author Dan Leeson is a former member of the San Jose Symphony Orchestra, a retired businessman, and an editor of the 220-volume complete Mozart edition published by Bärenreiter.)

©2000 Dan Leeson, all rights reserved