Oregon Music News

This past weekend, pianist Arnaldo Cohen completed an Olympian feat by playing all five of Beethoven’s piano concertos plus Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the Oregon Symphony in the span of three days. Cohen had performed in Portland before, most recently giving a superb interpretation of Liszt’s Concerto No 2 with the Oregon Symphony in February of 2008 and delivering a knockout recital in May of 2009 through the Portland Piano International series. This time, at the orchestra’s Beethoven Festival, Cohen again used his formidable talent, insight, and genuine artistry to take Beethoven’s music to the highest levels and leave a memorable impression.

After missing the first concert (which was reviewed here by Lorin Wilkerson), I attended the second and third performances, which took place at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall on Sunday, May 16^th and Monday, May 17^th, respectively. The performance on Sunday evening was the better of the two, because Cohen not only played superbly but he and the orchestra, directed by Carlos Kalmar, were in the zone. They absolutely had a mind meld going on. Soloist and orchestra increased and decreased tempos as if they were one person. They did the same with volume and all sorts of nuanced shadings in Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto and in his Fourth. For example, the clarinets and Cohen had an exposed passage in the second movement of the First in which they lingered tenderly over the notes as they could read each other’s thoughts. And in the second movement of the Fourth, there was a point in which Cohen and all of the musicians executed an exquisitely hushed pianissimo and then rose out of it totally together. It was absolute magic and created one of many astounding moments that mesmerized the audience, which responded at the end of the piece with a near-calamitous ovation. Even Kalmar enthusiastically rapped  his baton on the piano – something that I have never seen him do before. As an encore, Cohen and the orchestra repeated the second movement of the Fourth.

In Monday’s concert Cohen joined the orchestra in Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto and his Fifth Piano Concerto (“Emperor”). The stormy exchanges between the orchestra and Cohen in the first movement were impressive, but the second movement had terrifically tender phrases between principle bassoonist Carin Miller, principal flutist David Buck, and Cohen that were to die for.

Perhaps a bit of fatigue started to settle in with the Emperor concerto, because Cohen’s playing was not as impeccable as it had been and, in the third movement, there was a cut off flub between Kalmar and the orchestra. Yet, these were minor nits in a performance that was exuberant from its splashy beginning to its playful end. The crowd went nuts again and only stopped expressing its appreciation after Cohen sat down to play an encore, “Odeon” by Brazilan composer Ernesto Nazarath (which was the same encore he played here in 2008).

All in all, Cohen and the orchestra swept the audience into a transcendent space, making these concerts some of the very best this past season. The next time Cohen comes to Portland, be sure to hear him; he is an artist of the highest order.

Congratulations are in order for Oregon Symphony’s principal flutist David Buck, who has just won the audition for the position of principal flutist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Buck has been a terrific principal flutist here for the last few years. Now it looks like he will be playing for Mr. Dudamel in the near future! The news is on the Oregon Symphony’s facebook page and in the Oregonian web site. By the way, the base pay for any player in the LA Philharmonic is in the six figures; so Buck will be well taken care of.

Photo credit K. Miura

Midori, the internationally famous violinist, gave an intimate and introspective performance of Sibelius’ Violin Concerto with the Oregon Symphony under the direction of Carlos Kalmar on Saturday evening (April 24) at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. With immaculate phrasing, Midori seemed to feel her way into this moody piece, exploring its dark corners and the bright-hued expanses with intensity. The second movement, in particular, with its prayerful stance, emerging from the gloomy depths and ascending to a lighter and brighter space, was sublime.

Because Midori kept the volume down, even in the most effusive passages, the orchestra listened and responded masterfully. There were a number of sections in which the orchestra had to quickly swell to a double forte and scamper back to pianissimo, so that Midori could take tenderness to a new level. In sections that called for more volume with Midori, she could always be heard. Also, the blend in the orchestra was outstanding at all times, and that helped to make this performance even more memorable.

In the second half of the program, the orchestra got to let its hair down with a show-stopping, incredible performance of Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony. The entire ensemble was flat-out terrific, with strings sawing their way through fast passages at breakneck speed, horns triple-tonguing their way like nobody’s business, woodwinds singing like angels, and the brass electrifying the whole enterprise with aplomb.

Principal horn, John Cox, played his solos in the second movement gorgeously. The exposed passages for the clarinets were remarkable in that principal clarinetist Yoshinori Nakao’s sound was absolutely matched b y Mark Dubac’s in such a way that if you didn’t have your eyes open, you wouldn’t know which one was playing. The same perfect match came when principal flutist David Buck and assistant flutist Alicia DiDonato Paulsen played. Principal bassoonist Carin Miller also gave a superb performance.

The concert opened with a short work by Sibelius called “Canzonetta,” which he wrote as incidental music for a Finnish play. The orchestra created a calm, almost idyllic soundscape in which slow-moving themes were gently passed from one string section to another – like walking on a field of clouds. Kalmar directed the piece without a baton and that certainly added to the soft and almost ethereal quality of this piece.

When the orchestra can take a well-known piece like the Tchaikovsky and still deliver its music to it fullest, emotional heights, like the Oregon Symphony did on Saturday evening, then listeners can be taken to a higher plane. It’s a life-enhancing experience, and it’s one that is remembered fondly for a long, long time.

The Greater Portland Flute Society presents Oregon Symphony flutists David Buck, Alicia DiDonato Paulsen and Carla Wilson in recital with pianist Cary Lewis tonight at The Old Church, downtown Portland. The program begins at 7 p.m. and includes a blend of solo pieces and orchestral arrangements by Copland, Tchaikovsky, Berlioz, and Mendelssohn. The Flute Society will host a reception with the artists immediately following the recital. So don’t forget to tweet this post!

What: Oregon Symphony flutists David Buck, Alicia DiDonato Paulsen & Carla Wilson – with Cary Lewis, piano

When: Monday, February 15, 2010 at 7 PM

Where: Old Church, 1422 Southwest 11th Avenue, Portland, OR

Cost: $10 for GPFS members; $ 15 for non-members.

There’s a big mystery behind Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante in E-flat major. Since the original manuscript has never been found, did Mozart really write this piece? Mozart scholar and pianist Robert Levin did so much research about this topic that he wrote a 492-page book entitled “Who Wrote the Mozart Four-Wind Concertante” and has “reconstructed” the piece to make it sound more like what Mozart would’ve written.

Levin’s reconstruction will be performed in an upcoming Oregon Symphony concert by four principals from the orchestra: David Buck, flute, John Cox, French horn, Martin Hebert, oboe, and Carin Miller bassoon. I met them during their ensemble rehearsal in the living room of Hebert’s home to discuss this piece. (more…)