Symphony's Diamond Jubilee Features Rare Gems

By Truman C. Wang
Saturday, October 12, 200

PASADENA, CALIF — Almost exactly one year to this date, in my first Pasadena Symphony review,  I commented on the “uncommonly high imagination” of their program.  A year later, that observation remains true as ever.  Not many symphony orchestras can boast 75 years of continual survival or excellence (San Jose Symphony disbanded after some 50 years in the business.)   So, for its 75^th anniversary season opener, the Pasadena Symphony went all out, even over the top, with a surprise brass band in full regalia, a sumptuous triple-decker birthday cake rolled out on a cart and a program of orchestral spectaculars that would please the novice and connoisseur alike.  Then again, all the extravaganza should be no surprising from the City of the Rose Parade.

The concert opener (or the icing on the cake, if you will) was Alfredo Casella’s four-movement divertimento Paganiniana—not a great piece by any means but a work full of charm and humor nevertheless.  The outer movements are a bit of a romp (very opera buffa) and must have been as much fun to write as they clearly were for the Pasadena Symphony to play; the Háry János-like dancing oboes and trumpets were a delight

Louis Maurer’s Sinfonia Concertante for Four Violins started off in the serious, classical vein of Gluck and Cherubini, and promptly lightened up with the aid of four superb young soloists, who traded lines (and mischievous glances) with one another like it was a children’s game.  Conductor Mester tried his best to rein in these rambunctious merrymakers with little success, and eventually joined them in a thrilling finale (after like 7 cadenzas) filled with bravura fireworks and infectious romp.   If anything, this thoroughly captivating performance proved “the more the merrier”, at least in violin concertos. 

After intermission, we were served the last hors d'oeuvre before the main course:  Paul Dukas’ ever-popular concert spectacular The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.  The playing was a bit wanting in rubato and humor for my taste;  however, there was knife-edge precision and clarity in the playing, and the atmosphere tense and exciting.    It’s a vivid performance with a positively awesome return of the sorcerer after his apprentice's mayhem

I wish I could honestly say that I enjoyed the main course as much as the hors d'oeuvres.  Unfortunately, Conductor Mester missed the mark with Elgar’s Enigma Variations and gave a weighty, humorless and rather un-British reading.  The opening C.A.E.(No. 2) and the W.N. (No. 8) both failed to convey the grace and charm of the British high society.   On the other hand, Nimrod (No. 9, featured in the film “Elizabeth”) was both deeply felt and beautifully understated, with a breathtaking pianissimo at the start which built up very powerfully at a slow, steady tempo.  On the whole, the performance was a highly picturesque and illustrative one, if one did not examine each of the portraits too closely.

All carping aside, ‘tis the season to celebrate.   Hip, hip, hooray!

Happy Birthday Pasadena Symphony!

Truman C. Wang is editor of Classical Voice.

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