Kansas City Symphony: Opening Concert

The opening concert of this season's Kansas City Symphony was designed to be a crowd pleaser. Judging from the reaction of the large audience on Saturday eve, it certainly fulfilled its mission. The three works, Jennifer Higdon's popular "blue cathedral", Chopin Piano Concerto # 2 and Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" are not huge blockbuster works, however they worked well together taking us on a sometimes meditative, sometimes nostalgic and finally aurally thrilling journey.

"blue cathedral" is billed as one of the most often performed contemporary works in America. Beautiful, poignant, ephemeral, a drifting cloud of sound that was at the same time not just a directionless mass of chords and special effects. The piece is a life journey, in memoriam to her brother, evoking the passion and sense of urgency of a life too short, finally culminating in the same heavenly calmness from which it sprang.

Stern's well received performance was brisk, illuminating the more dramatic elements of the piece, such as the frenetic brass climax near the end. The soft, transparent closing pages were well conceived, drifting off into silence accompanied by the otherworldly sounds of Chinese jingling balls and the brass playing on water glasses, effects not as easily heard on a recording. A magical piece, concise and moving.

Chopin's two Concerti For Piano are far from flashy. Both early works, the evening's Concerto # 2 in F minor was actually written before # 1 but premiered later. Hailed as a masterpiece of expressive piano writing, the piece is at the same time criticized for its thin and sometimes uninteresting orchestral writing; illuminating Chopin's inexperience with the orchestra.

But of course, with Chopin, the piano is king and thus the orchestra does what it is supposed to do; set up the dramatic scene, punctuate the phrases, add heft to the climaxes and bring everything to a rousing close. The KCS did just that, providing the incomparable Garrick Ohlsson with the base needed to pull off an effortless yet luscious performance. Ohlsson's piano provided a warm, sustained sonority, a Dynaflow (people familiar with classic Buicks will understand that reference)sense of motion well serving the intent of the composer.

The Ravel orchestration of Mussorgsky's "Pictures" is of course the most well known of the many attempts to orchestrate the work originally for piano. Stern and the KCS pulled out all the stops in a grand performance, marred only by a lack of heft in the strings (oh... to have the budget for 3-4 more violins, a viola and cello or two...)causing them to be buried under the power of the brass and winds. The brass shone in this performance, especially noting the great execution of the killer trumpet solo in Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle. Especially fun was a skittering "Limoges-The Marketplace". The Great Gate of Kiev provided a thrilling conclusion with all the bells and well executed percussion.

The large crowd went home pleased, having enjoyed an evening of deservedly popular music played well.