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| Charlene Baldridge Photo by Ken Howard |
Mainly Mozart Festival 2016 Concludes
Moving right along, circumstance dictated going alone to the
June 15 Mainly Mozart Orchestra concert at the Balboa Theatre. I drove to
Broadway Circle early in order to secure free street parking in advance of the
6:30 “Overture.” Most edifying, the concert preamble consisted of individual
players from the Mainly Mozart Youth Orchestra mixing it up with individual
All-Star Orchestra players, such as concertmaster William Preucil, in chamber
quintets, quartets and trios. A wonderful experience for the kids, whose
families were present in the auditorium, which is perfect spot for chamber
works.
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| William Preucil |
In the concert that followed Maestro Michael Francis led the
orchestra and guest soloist, the much acclaimed, much recorded Canadian
violinist James Ehnes (in Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Major and Franz
Schubert’s Rondo in A Major) and the orchestra in other early works by Mozart
(Overture: “La finta semplice” and Symphony in D Major “Il Sogno di Scipone”)
and Schubert (Symphony No. 1 in D Major). It was gratifying to see so many kids
and families remain for the concert by this pre-eminent soloist and orchestra,
which Mo. Francis proclaims the best in the world.
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| Maestro Michael Francis |
Ehnes is on world tour in celebration of his 40th
birthday this year. He is very fine, and he and Francis, of an age give or take
a year, made an attractive duo when they took their bows, looking like two succulent peas from the same pod, tuxedo-clad and bursting
from their confines. They and the orchestra were so attuned that there was no
lag at all between Ehnes’ deliciously clean cadenzas and the ensuing orchestral
entrances. It was a magical partnership to say the least between two
enthusiastic, personality-filled colleagues.
Another of those rare suspension-of-breath moments came late in the
orchestra’s rendering of the Schubert Symphony, which Schubert wrote in 1813
when he was 12. There’s a subtle, yet abrupt, change in time signature from a
rather martial cadence to duple time, and at that moment and in the ensuing
bars, the orchestra grew hushed and so did the audience: magic.
The inspired programming of this particular concert allows
us to explore and compare the development of two prodigies, Mozart and
Schubert, in works composed when they were 12-17 years of age.
Ethan Bortnick’s The
Power of Music
Ethan Bortnick, who persuaded his parents that he needed piano lessons when
he was only 3, is by now a very talented young man at an exceptionally awkward
time in his life. At 15, his face has yet to grow into his jaw and many of his
movements, especially when he bows, are ungainly, certainly common to one of
his years, charming in its way, but irksome over the course of a self-hosted
evening’s entertainment. I know he has a singing coach. I wonder if he would
consider a movement coach. He also needs a script so that his patter is not so
repetitive.
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| Ethan Bortnick |
Right now Bortnick is much more the pianist and composer than the pop vocalist.
Because his voice is changing, he isn’t able to engage in full-out vocalism that would allow him to sing as though he loves to sing.
Nonetheless, he is much the showman – a
segment where he calls audience members to the stage and composes from their
ring tones was particularly enjoyable – and he is at ease with the audience, who
seemed to have a rip-roaring good time. His four-member backup band (keyboard,
percussion, guitar and bass) is excellent, and the three who sang have
beautiful voices. Bortnick also utilized the San Diego North Coast Singers,
with whom he performed the evening’s closing number, “We Are the World.”
The Closing Concert of the Orchestra Series
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| Gavin George |
The final concert in the Mainly Mozart Festival featured impressive
12-year-old pianist Gavin George, whose playing of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.
5 in D Major displayed mature aplomb. It was rife with facility as well as budding
spiritual understanding. His encore – Rachmaninoff’s Prelude Opus 23, #5 – showed
both unabashed bombast and a love of melodic beauty.
The program began with Maestro Francis and the orchestra’s amusing
performance of Leopold Mozart’s Cassation in G Major (“Toy Symphony”), replete
with airs by lovesick cuckoos and toy trumpets, a drum, bells and whistles and
ratchet. Leopold was Mozart’s father. The performance was good-naturedly performed by soloists from the ranks of the orchestra.
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| Maestro Francis and the Festival Orchestra |
Other explorations included Mozart Symphonies No. 2 (unprogrammed but included
as what Maestro described as a “palate cleanser” prior to what followed the Cassation), Mozart’s
symphonies No. 5 and No. 52. The program concluded with a thrilling reading of
Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 1 in C minor, written when he was 15. Here there was
applause between movements, and as my learned friend observed, it was justified because
the conclusions of each movement were electrifying.
American Rhythm
Seen Sunday afternoon (June 19) at Lamb’s Players
Theatre, Coronado
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| The Company of American Rhythm Photos by Ken Jacques |
I remember this piece from 2000 when Lamb’s first presented it, a survey of
everything living musical and historical thing (well, not quite) from Tin Pan Alley to the present. It aspires
to tell the story of the last century in the U.S.A. up to the present without
bias or comment, illustrated with music. Now, as originally, it changes its
mind and becomes something else after bogging down in the Dust Bowl and the
ensuing Great Depression, and at last becomes more of what it should have been
all along – lots of talent, performing and dancing to music that spans the
century and more.
American Rhythm was conceived
originally by Lamb’s Artistic Director Robert Smyth and commissioned of Kerry
Meads and Vanda Eggington, both involved still as director and musical
director. It now has new choreography by Colleen Kollar Smith. At nearly three
hours, it’s still way too much for one music lover to endure, even one with a
generously padded rear. There’s no doubt about it, though, the assembled company of
ten – familiar and new – plus a fine 7-piece band, the songs, and their intelligent
execution and arrangements are a wondrous glut. Veterans include Sandy
Campbell, Catie Grady, Siri Hafso, David S. Humphrey, Luke Harvey Jacobs,
Benjamin Roy, Lance Arthur Smith and Joy Yandell. Those making their Lamb’s
debuts are Kiana Bell and Michael Cusimano.
The production plays through August 7 at Lamb’s Players Theatre, 1142
Orange Avenue, Coronado. www.lambsplayers.org or
619-437-6000.
Introducing the 2016 Fringe
Monday night, I attended the press preview of the San Diego International
Fringe Festival (June 23-July 3 at various locations), two-minute snippets of
around 50 of the groups presenting more than 400 50-minute performances of
plays, music and dance this year. Tickets are only $10, and a complete schedule
may be found at www.sdfringe.org. Better yet, a
public preview ($5) takes place tonight at 7-9pm at the Readers Spreckels Theatre,
923 First Avenue. https://sdfringe.ticketleap.com/festival-previews/
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