Featuring Music Director Michael Jinbo, Monteux Alumni Conductors, Winter Workshop conductors, and the Monteux Heritage Orchestra
Michael Jinbo, David Alexander Rahbee, Reuben Blundell, Michael Shane Wittenburg, conductors; Monteux Heritage Orchestra
Rick Basehore, oboe; Christopher Johnson, piano; Uli Speth, violin; Allison Kiger, Marisela Sager, flute
Good-Shepherd Faith Presbyterian Church, New York, NY
January 4, 2019
In 1943, French-born conductor Pierre Monteux founded a summer school for conductors and orchestra musicians in his adopted hometown of Hancock, Maine. “Conducting is not enough, I must create something. I am not a composer, so I will create fine young musicians,” he said. Musicians from around the world came to Hancock to study with the beloved master. To celebrate seventy-five years of workshops at the Monteux School and Music Festival, distinguished alumni (conductors, instrumental soloists, and orchestra members) appeared in concert at the Good-Shepherd Faith Presbyterian Church in New York City on January 4, 2019. With four different conductors, five featured soloists, and two works by lesser-known female composers, it was an evening that was both musically rewarding and historically interesting.
Let me state straightaway that the Monteux Heritage Orchestra is a crackerjack ensemble. In this acoustically unforgiving venue, there was never a hint of trouble with balance. The playing was crisp and clear, and the intonation was impeccable throughout.
David Alexander Rahbee opened the concert with a spirited reading of Franz Joseph Haydn’s Overture to Il mondo della luna (The World on the Moon). Mr. Rahbee is an extroverted conductor whose energy is shown at all times with sweeping gestures and demonstrable attention to all details. Mr. Rahbee also conducted the opening work of the second half, J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G major, BWV 1049. While I believed that there was a bit too much direction from Mr. Rahbee, there can be no dispute about the excellence of the performance. The soloists, violinist Uli Speth and flutists Allison Kiger and Marisela Sager, were sparkling. They each displayed their virtuosity with a practiced ease. Special kudos to Mr. Speth, whose part has some of the most demanding passages that Bach ever wrote for the violin (especially in the first and third movements).
Reuben Blundell conducted two works, Andante quasi recitativo by Elfrida Andrée (1841-1929) and Concentus Brevis by Matilde Capuis (1913-2017), with oboe soloist Rick Basehore. Both pieces were presented thanks to a grant from the Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy Group. The 1877 Andante quasi recitativo is a short (approximately five minutes), lyrical work, tinged with what seemed to this listener a mournful nostalgic quality. Written in 1975, Concentus Brevis is a ten-minute concerto for oboe and string orchestra. It is an effective work with highly virtuosic writing for the oboe soloist.
Mr. Blundell was economical in his motions, but his direction was clear in what were highly nuanced performances of works that one does not often encounter in the concert hall. Mr. Basehore projected strongly without any stridency, and his passagework was exquisite.
Michael Shane Wittenburg was the conductor for the final work in the first half, Camille Saint-Saëns’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22, with piano soloist Christopher Johnson. This blockbuster concerto, which in the words of Sigismond Stojowski “begins like Bach, and ends like Offenbach,” is a tour-de-force for the pianist that is always an audience favorite.
Mr. Johnson spoke before sitting down at the piano, including a few humorous remarks. He gave me the impression of being filled with nervous energy, like a tightly coiled spring waiting to release. That quality was to serve him well, as he let loose with a fury in a “no holds barred” performance. Mr. Wittenburg, himself a highly accomplished pianist, was an attentive collaborator. Like Mr. Blundell, his direction was clear and without any large gestures.
After the pyrotechnics of the final movement, the electrified audience leapt to their feet to give Mr. Johnson a well-deserved standing ovation. While this reviewer has been to many a concert where everyone was given a standing ovation, this was the only such occurrence in an evening filled with outstanding performances.
The Music Director of the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors and Orchestra Musicians, Michael Jinbo, had the place of honor in conducting the final work on the program, Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring Suite for 13 Instruments (double string quartet, bass, flute, clarinet, bassoon, and piano). Maestro Jinbo also wrote very detailed and educational program notes.
While on the surface it would seem that this famous piece should be a walk in the park, it is simply not so. It is deceptively difficult, made more so by the small numbers, and it requires skills are not readily apparent to one sitting in the audience watching. Maestro Jinbo demonstrated his ability with a reading that was technically taut, but still sounded vital and fresh. While I enjoyed the fireworks of the Saint-Saëns, this was the most musically satisfying performance of the evening.
Congratulations are due to all. May the Monteux School and Music Festival enjoy the next seventy-five years of successes!
