OVERNIGHT REVIEW: California Philharmonic opens season at L.A. County Arboretum

By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily News
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California Philharmonic; Victor Vener, conductor; The Fab Four, soloists
Beethoven and The Beatles: Men Who Changes Music Forever
Saturday, June 25, 2011 • Los Angeles County Arboretum
Next concert: Today at 2 p.m., Walt Disney Concert Hall
Info: www.calphil.org
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At first glance, Beethoven and The Beatles might seem like an odd combination for a concert. Not for Victor Vener, music director of the California Philharmonic, who revels in such crossover programs. As Vener told a large audience last night at the Los Angeles County Arboretum, these were — as his subtitle said — men who changed music forever.

Beethoven — the Egmont Overture and Symphony No. 5 — occupied the first half of the program. The overture was somewhat ragged, which, as it turned out, was a precursor to what was to come in the symphony. Moreover there was nothing in the program, nor did Vener say anything from the stage, as to why this was an example of the way Beethoven changed music.

Vener did answer that question in setting up Beethoven’s 5th. The conductor has spent decades studying this work and it showed. Vener’s tempos were very close to the composer’s own markings, he reduced the orchestra to approximately the size Beethoven had in mind, and allowed Principal Oboist Francisco Castillo to interpolate a nifty brief cadenza midway through the first movement (a practice that would have been quite common in the composer’s time).

Unfortunately when some in the audience applauded at the end of the first movement, Vener turned around and proceeded to tell them it was quite all right to do so and offered examples of Mahler and Shostakovich to buttress his belief. Perhaps this was reverse psychology because it seemed to have the reverse effect at the end of the second movement as would-be applauders seemed intimated.

Moreover, the orchestra appeared to be thrown off by the interruptions. The first three movements were taken at quite brisk tempos but each movement got progressively more ragged. To compound matters, the sound engineers seemed to make the musicians sound quite raw, even from 2/3 of the way back in the venue. The microphones seemed to be right on top of the instruments, which meant that what came out had almost no blend at all. No doubt, things will be considerably improved this afternoon at Disney Hall.

After one round of tepid applause, Vener came onstage to announce the news that the Cal Phil will move next season to the Santa Anita Racetrack (LINK). The news of permanent restrooms (as opposed to porta-potties) at the new facility got more applause than Beethoven.

After intermission, Vener introduced The Beatles music by noting that the group was the first to employ a large symphony orchestra in the recording studio, which may not be the most noteworthy accomplishment of the Liverpool quartet but provided good justification for what ensued.

The Fab Four — a group that approximates the look and sound of The Beatles — joined the orchestra for 50 minutes of mostly mellow nostalgia. Since the group had played many of The Beatles’ best-known hits when it appeared at the Cal Phil two years ago, this performance had some lesser-known songs along with a few mega-hits.

After a somewhat slow start, the audience got into the flow as the group donned psychedelic costumes moved into I Am the Walrus, and things picked up steam from then. A performance of Penny Lane showed off the considerable talents of Principal Trumpeter David Washburn on the baroque piccolo trumpet, while renditions of All You Need is Love, Imagine and the lone encore, Hey Jude, had the audience singing along and waving all sorts of light sources from batons to cell phones. A good time was had by most.
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Hemidemisemiquavers:
• The evening began not with The Star Spangled Banner but with America. Nice choice, IMHO.
• Wonder of wonders, there were no preconcert speeches. However, there were two verbal announcements during the evening and a flyer about an upcoming appearance by The Fab Four on July 29 in Pasadena, a concert that is being presented by a Pasadena Entertainment, which is owned by André Vener, the composer’s son. The company was also listed as the concert sponsor.
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(c) Copyright 2011, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.

Comments

[Dwight Posner]

The cadenza at the end of the first movement was written out by Beethoven. True, cadenzas were sometimes improvised for B's music during his time but that was within the context of concertos, not symphonies. The cadenza "interpolated" at this concert was a bit of putrid crap, excuse my French. Veneer's talk about applause was pandering. The concert, generally speaking, was rhythmically incoherent and uninteresting musically. I will not attend another of Veneer's performances.