The Sedona Symphony launched its 20th season at the Sedona Performing Arts Center on Sunday, Oct. 20, with several surprises for the audience, including performer substitutions and a guitar concerto.
Owing to last-minute illness, both Artistic Director Janna Hymes and concertmaster Sara Schreffler were not on hand for the occasion, and the orchestra instead opened the season under the highly-talented baton of Flagstaff Symphony director Charles Latshaw, with the concertmaster’s chair taken by Luke Hill.
Board of Trustees president Margaret Davis noted that the symphony has made a number of personnel changes in the last few months, and the results were immediately apparent from the first downbeat in the overture from Gioacchino Rossini’s opera “L’Italiana in Algeri,” originally programmed for last season. Latshaw remarked that it was “just perfect” to have a last-minute conductor leading an overture also composed at the very last possible minute. From the very beginning, the violins spoke with a unified voice, and the strong depth of the basses helped to smooth and integrate the ensemble’s sound. The repeated crescendos were clearly delineated, something that is always a challenge given Rossini’s exuberance, which risks degenerating into chaos.
Latshaw’s conducting was precise and highly idiomatic, with good energy and strong control of dynamic nuances. The only issue his handling of the Rossini presented — and indeed, the only serious issue to arise during the concert — was his apparent choice to play a number of accents leading up to the final crescendo as ritards, which was unnecessary and temporarily tripped up the rush of the Italian girl, who was otherwise thoroughly exciting. If you haven’t yet seen Marilyn Horne in the opera’s title role, belting Mustafa on the jaw and sending him and his immense turban rolling, you’ve got a treat in store for you.
For the afternoon’s solo act, Hymes had programmed something out of the ordinary: Joaquin Rodrigo’s “Concierto de Aranjuez,” a concerto for acoustic guitar, with Slovenian guitarist Mak Grgic. The guitar immediately took the lead, and Grgic played with a casual ease and flair while the orchestra behind him offered suggestions of a more epic breadth. It could be heard as a representation of Spain with the world at its feet if the listener felt so inclined, incorporating phrases and rhythms often regarded as typically Spanish.
The concerto’s second movement was its longest section, and Grgic took time to linger over its languorous and romantic themes. In the background, the strings whispered gently, emerging periodically to converse with the winds, especially a pronounced oboe. It was intensely enjoyable to witness such delicacy and finesse from the symphony’s violin section. Meanwhile, Grgic strummed away in his own musical space, caressing his guitar as if they were alone together, oblivious to the breezes and brooks of the gardens of Aranjuez, Spain. In moments of great passion, the full ensemble would join in under Latshaw’s careful dynamic control, but for much of the movement, the performance was all about the guitar inviting the listener to take a stroll.
In dramatic contrast, the third movement was a spunky jaunt reminiscent of the film scores of golden age-Hollywood. Orchestra and horns had a greater role, and there was room for some lively work by the flute and piccolo. Again the wellintegrated strings were much in evidence, which one has to appreciate, and the finish was soft yet cheeky — impudent, almost. To end the first half of the concert on a more lively note, Grgic offered an encore consisting of a Macedonian folk song about marriage that combined both flamenco influence and modern-feeling dark chords, along with impossibly fast strumming.
The new power and sleekness of the orchestra’s sound were even more obvious in Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4, or the Italian Symphony, the composer’s best and most popular symphonic work. Again the basses weighed in to great effect, intensified by their unity with the brass. It might have been nice to have some more violins for a fuller result, but the balance the symphony is now achieving between the higher and lower voices of the ensemble has transformed its sound. Latshaw’s execution was energetic and bold, not content with making the well-loved energy of the first movement sound merely nice. The opening bars of the second movement implied leaden skies, but these gradually gave way to sweetness in the style of the first movement, which was then revoked and revisited in a reprise. Some lovely solid work by the violas was also quite in evidence throughout.
The third movement took a different approach. Here, Mendelssohn decided to be elegant and restrained and let the violins do a lot of the talking in a very classical rather than emergent-Romantic style. The dignity slowly yielded to a preparatory sense of urgency, but there were also some moments of Mozartian angst. For whatever reason, Mozart’s emotional turmoil has never been an ideal pairing with this particular orchestra; however, the improvement in performing similar material from last year’s Symphony No. 35 is striking. Throughout the fourth movement, the symphony did a very satisfactory job of maintaining the internal pulse that connects the apparently frenzied buildup of the work’s final minutes and kept it from collapsing into frizzing. Everything was distinct without confusion, a display of expertly-modulated power held together by Latshaw’s clear and evocative direction. The overall result was nothing short of memorable. There was a new sense of enthusiasm and assurance in the ensemble’s work that was highly satisfying.
Strap yourselves in now for the symphony’s next concert on Nov. 17, which will present Chamber Music Sedona Artistic Director Nick Canellakis as the featured soloist, followed by Georges Bizet’s Symphony No. 1. Attendance for the season is already up, and for the first time in a while, a younger crowd is turning out to hear the best music in town.
