OVERNIGHT REVIEW: Pasadena Symphony opens season at Ambassador Auditorium

By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily News
__________

Pasadena Symphony; James DePreist, conductor; Anne Akiko Meyers, violin
Rossini: Overture to La gazza ladra; Barber: Violin Concerto; Brahms: Symphony No. 2
Saturday, Oct. 23, 2010 • Ambassador Auditorium
__________

There was a lot riding on Saturday’s concert by the Pasadena Symphony Orchestra. It was the ensemble’s first time appearing in its new home, Ambassador Auditorium, and the first time it had scheduled two concerts on the same day. But there was much more on the line.

Opening day of the PSO’s 82nd season finds the orchestra in the midst of a painful transition. Finances are still precarious, although they appear to be moving in the right direction (last year’s loss of $500,000 was a far cry from the $1.7 million deficit from 2008-09). Moreover, after 25 years of seeing Jorge Mester on the podium, audiences and orchestra members were watching, hearing and interacting for the first time with James DePreist, whose title of artistic advisor (as opposed to music director) acknowledges, in part, the transitory nature of things at this juncture in the PSO’s history.

While the orchestra’s board and management work to determine the orchestra’s future, it’s up to DePreist, four guest conductors and the musicians to continue this season the high quality that was a hallmark of the Mester era. More will be required, but for now, how well the orchestra plays is critical to its survival.

Thus, it’s a pleasure to report that the orchestra’s high standards appear to be undiminished. Moreover, it’s never sounded better, thanks to Ambassador’s flattering acoustics (certainly when compared to the ensemble’s former home, the Pasadena Civic). The crowd for the afternoon concert (which I attended) appeared to be about half-full; attendance at the evening concert was expected to be much higher.

Of course, it helps to have an experienced hand like the 73-year-old DePreist seated at the podium (he conducts from a power wheelchair, a result of his having contracted polio in 1962). Although Mester had chosen two of the three works on the program, DePreist elected to open with Rossini’s Overture to La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie). The result, with stately tempos and carefully layered sound, presaged what would come later in the program.

Nuances were very much in evidence in all three works, including Brahms’ Symphony No. 2, which concluded the afternoon. DePreist’s tempos were on the leisurely side throughout as he luxuriated in the orchestra’s rich string sound and spun long arcs of sound throughout all four movements.

The evening’s centerpiece was Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto, with Anne Akiko Meyers returning to Pasadena as the soloist, carrying her “new” $3.6 million Stradivarius known as the “ex-Napoleon/Molitor” (new to her, that is; it was crafted in 1697). Considering that she’s had very little time to become accustomed to the instrument, Meyers produced a rich, creamy tone throughout a vibrant performance and set off fireworks in the third movement with her prodigious technique.

DePreist and the orchestra accompanied Meyers sensitively throughout, with particular kudos to Leanne Becknell for her plaintive oboe solo turn at the beginning of the second movement. Meyers responded to enthusiastic applause with a sexy encore of Summertime from George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. Following the Brahms symphony, a musician — speaking on behalf of the ensemble — thanked the audience for its ongoing support in troubled times.
___________

Hemidemisemiquavers:
• Although this is the only concert that DePreist will lead this season, the logistics attendant with him conducting were somewhat perplexing for the audience. DePreist rolled on stage through the violin section and onto a platform. After stagehands removed the ramp, the violins reseated themselves before each half of the concert began. Once onstage, DePreist didn’t leave until intermission; having the conductor not coming on and off the stage appeared to diminish the audience’s applause, especially at the end.
• Because the Rossini overture begins with a snare-drum roll, DePreist let the drum rattle on for quite some time before beginning The Star Spangled Banner (when Gustavo Dudamel began the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s gala concert earlier this month with the La gazza ladra overture, many in the crowd rose, ready to sing).
• There were a number of technical snafus in the afternoon, including a malfunctioning microphone in the preconcert lecture by DePreist and CEO Paul Jan Zdunek. Too bad, because it turned out to be one of the best presentations I’ve heard, as DePreist talked at some length about how he became a conductor and about life with his aunt, the famed contralto Marian Anderson.
• Members of the Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestra serenaded concert-goers from in front of Ambassador’s “bird” fountain (the PYSO, like the Pasadena Symphony and Pasadena Pops, are under the umbrella of the Pasadena Symphony Association).
• After a holiday Pops concerts on Dec. 4 (INFO), the PSO returns to Ambassador on Jan. 22, 2011 with a program of Britten, Dvorak and Elgar led by 27-year-old guest conductor Tito Muñoz. Armenian-born cellist Narek Hakhnazayan will be the soloist in Dvorak’s Cello Concerto (INFO)
___________

(c) Copyright 2010, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.