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A night of
world-class guitar and symphony in the O.C. |
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Pacific Symphony
Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor
In a way, both Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin and Rodrigo’s Fantasia para un gentilhombre are as retro-leaning as the Beethoven’s Fifth was forward-looking. It was a nice, often startling, contrast that added much drama to the evening’s proceedings. To boot, the Pacific Symphony players were on top form, the strings sounding full and lush against the mellifluous woodwinds and brilliant percussions. The tonal balance among different orchestral sections was smooth and faultless from the loudest fortissimo to the softest pianissimo. This is one beautiful-sounding orchestra. Despite its somber title and dedication to the war dead, Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin was written as an homage to a gentle bygone era of the French Baroque masters (Rameau, Lully) and should be played in a lively and non-sentimental manner. Conductor Giancarlo Guerrero did exactly that and captured Ravel’s colorful orchestration brilliantly. The Forlane and Rigaudon dances exploded with vitality; the Menuet ebbed and flowed gracefully, featuring Jessica Pearlman’s lovely oboe playing. American guitarist Sharon Isbin has a loyal following of fans and, judging from her performance of Rodrigo’s Fantasia para un gentilhombre, it’s not hard to see why. There was great finesse and crystalline clarity in her playing, perhaps just a tad slow and over-reticent in the first movement (Villano & Ricercare) for my taste, but elsewhere the playing was spirited and spontaneous. Isbin played the soaring melodies of the “Españoleta” with deep feeling and high poetry. Her faultless scales and arpeggio work allowed her to dance with the orchestra in the "Danza de las hachas" and even challenge it winningly in the final festive dance “Canario”. The orchestra also contributed magnificently to the partnership. The loud bird-calls in the “Canario” might be a bit too much, but the unbounded enthusiasm was infectious. After the intermission, we heard a thrilling account of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in C-minor that showcased the Pacific Symphony as a world-class ensemble. Conductor Guerrero responded to the powerful ‘fate’ theme with tremendous force, but also opened up to the warm lyricism of the secondary subject that follows (again featuring Ms. Pearlman’s memorable solo oboe). The slow movement, Andante con moto, was lyrical yet vibrant with a forward motion. Curiously, the Scherzo was played without a repeat of the trio, but the Allegro finale was uncut with all the repeats. In any case, it was a powerful reading but with many memorable subtleties and great lyrical warmth. The Pacific Symphony strings were firmly-balanced from the highest strings to the lowest bass, with stellar contributions from the winds and brasses. The concert was a double triumph for Beethoven as well as the Pacific Symphony. To
purchase tickets for the Pacific Symphony's 2009/10 season, call
(714)755-5799 or visit online
www.pacificsymphony.org
Truman C. Wang is editor-in-chief of Classical Voice, whose articles have appeared in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, the Pasadena Star-News, other Southern California publications, as well as the Hawaiian Chinese Daily.
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