Alain Trudel
Conductor & trombonist
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Performance has plenty of sax appeal
March 15, 2010, 12:00 am
Article published March 06, 2010
Symphony Review: Performance has plenty of sax appeal
By SALLY VALLONGO
SPECIAL TO THE BLADE
The title of last night's Toledo Symphony Classics VI concert
was catchy enough - Scheherazade and Sax Appeal - but it didn't
do justice to the rich musical architecture of the program.
And despite the small glitches - rough entrances, intonation
issues, awkward endings - overall, the impact was strong, with
something for nearly all musical tastes.
In his first appearance with the symphony, Canadian guest
maestro Alain Trudel communicated with the orchestra. His
energized, focused conducting lifted the ensemble and resulted
in a rewarding night.
The program opened with Sergei Prokofiev's droll and brilliant
Symphony No 1 in D Major, known as the "Classical" for the 20th
century composer's stated intention to capture the essence of
Franz Josef Haydn in a four-movement work.
Trudel turned down the tempos. The opening Allegro was
pedestrian, the Larghetto languid, and the Gavotte hefty -
albeit with plenty of definition. Inner voices and the passage
of thematic material from section to section were easy to
follow.
The final Molto Vivace seemed sprightly after the first three
movements.
Enter Sax 4th Avenue, northwest Ohio's own saxophone quartet
with Stanley George, Shannon Ford, Kevin Heidbreder, and Jason
Yost to introduce TSO audiences to Philip Glass via his Concerto
for Saxophone Quartet.
A leading light of the minimalist movement of the late 20th
century, Glass' music is intellectually challenging yet
emotionally captivating. Repetitive rhythms and gradual chord
changes within a limited range of tonalities are his hallmarks,
and all were apparent in this 1995 work.
Seated in an arc in front of the orchestra, Sax 4th seemed as
much part of the orchestra as soloists. Indeed, the construction
resembles a concerto grosso, with a small ensemble countering
the full orchestra. (Ford says the group has performed a version
of the Glass piece for solo quartet.)
Yet it was the interaction between the quartet and section
leaders from the orchestra that gave the piece rich and variable
texture. Each of the four players had a solo turn through the
four movements, but only in the final movement was the rich sax
quartet sound apparent.
As a welcome encore, Sax 4th rocked on Ford's arrangement of
"Frame by Frame," a King Crimson rock original, complete with
complex choreography.
If the first half of the program was all about ensemble, the
second half, Rimsky-Korsakov's evocative, lyrical Scheherazade
was focused on solos by nearly every section leader in the
orchestra. As sinuous melodies soared in and out of the richly
harmonious matrix through four thematic movements, the orchestra
reached its musical peak for the evening.
Classics Series VI will repeat at 8 p.m. today in the Peristyle.
Tickets are $20-$50 at the door or toledosymphony.com or
419-246-8000.
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