I've Got That Rainy Day Feeling in Austin

Some days just don’t seem to be worth getting up for. If only leaving the curtains closed could make them go away. We had a thunderstorm in Austin last night. Such things are novel in January where I come from; in Austin sizable rainfalls are also uncommon. In arid territories things happen when it rains. Desert plants shed their leaves to conserve moisture, not to protect from cold and snow; so when it rains things start happening. Cacti sprout leaves and bloom, trees start growing again, buds swell, and flowers appear. Dry creek beds, arroyos, suddenly become raging torrents and roads get flooded. Canadians would say, at least we don’t have to shovel it, this side of the border it is hoped we don’t have to sand bag it. In an arid land water is always welcome. I just hope it lets up somewhat before I have to walk over for my concert this evening.

No such luck! I walked the quarter mile to the Long Centre in the middle of a cloud-burst dodging the spray from passing cars. What follows will be a concert review. For the record my centre row seat at the front of the balcony afforded near-perfect accoustics.

In an age when most people hear music recorded on a CD a live concert is an entirely different experience. This was an all-Barber Concert dedicated to his 100th Anniversary and since the feature artist was Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg playing the Violin Concerto I’ll begin there. Nowhere is the difference between recorded sound and the live experience more dramatically apparent than in the ‘contest’ between a single violin and a large symphony orchestra. Without the close miking of the soloist which allows the violinist to stand out on a recording one is struck by how small is the tone of a single violin in contrast to say a flute or clarinet. In a concerto a solist plays not so much with the orchestra but its conductor. Peter Bey is emphatically a solist’s conductor for without his co-operation in holding back the orchestra the solist could have easily been drowned out completely especially since this solist chose to interpret this concerto with an ethereal delicacy. I have seen solists who looked daggers at their conductor and stalked off stage without giving him a second look, but these two exchanged enthusiastic hugs after the performance and the solist applauded the orchestra. Not since I attended an old-time fiddling concert in PEI have I seen an artist give such an animated performance. This one did not stomp her feet but she definitely danced across the stage feeling the music as much with her body as her with hands and bow.

Symphony # 1 which follows was not familiar and displayed the kind of dense internal development one would associate with the likes of Bruchner. The opening music from Medea was new to me as well. There’s a reason this number opened a program which featured more familiar and popular opuses. The organ concerto which ended the first half suffered largely from the lack of a real organ; watching the stagehands wheel the electronic monster onstage and assemble it being more dramatic than the sound it made.

Given the popularity and ubiquitous nature of the Adagio for Strings giving it a fresh airing is a challenge for any group. Maestro Bey chose a mannered, delicate approach emphasizing the interplay between the tonal groups of the string section.

My walk home was only slightly less damp. In fact Maestro Bey congratulated his audience in braving the elements to attend the evening’s concert.