Saturday evening's Annapolis Symphony concert was an enjoyable affair that managed to perplex even as it provided considerable pleasure.
The highlight was soloist Uri Pianka's deeply satisfying reading of Samuel Barber's Violin Concerto. Mr. Pianka is concertmaster for the Houston Symphony, which is making a name for itself in the nation's orchestral circles.
The concerto's lyrical bent is definitely in line with Mr. Pianka's aesthetic sensibilities. At heart, he is a singer who happens to play the fiddle. Even in the sonic black hole that is Maryland Hall, Barber's deeply felt melodies rang out with beauty and strength, a tribute to the ardor with which Mr. Pianka expressed his ideas and to the acumen of Signor Rogieri, who crafted the soloist's lustrous-sounding instrument back in 1704.
Mr. Pianka, a devotee of chamber music, tends to steer clear of the razzle-dazzle histrionics the front-line virtuosos lather up with such regularity. Yet his tone was so compelling, I found plenty to get excited about. And there was nothing slouchy about the panache with which he attacked the perpetual motion pyrotechnics of Barber's somewhat tacky third movement.
Conductor Gisele Ben-Dor, as usual, was an excellent hostess, supporting her soloist in sure-handed fashion, leading the orchestra she had prepared so well for the occasion. String playing was admirably sustained, and there were many fine moments from the woodwinds, especially Jim Dale's gentle, introspective oboe solo in the andante movement.
Kudos to the three sassy interludes from Leonard Bernstein's musical "On the Town." With excellent clarinet and saxophone solos plus some prodigiously energetic playing from the brass, Ms. Ben-Dor truly rocked the house. All three trumpets, by the way, were substitute players. Attention ASO management: Can you keep these guys? They're better than what you usually have sitting back there.
Now for the perplexing element. The same orchestra that went after Barber and Bernstein with such conviction, sounded small, tentative and emotionally detached in, of all things, Beethoven's Fourth Symphony. Oh, they got a lot of the notes right, but there was a noticeable lack of wit, sparkle and vitality. Strange indeed that an orchestra that plays its heart out for Sam Barber and for Lenny can't jack it up a few notches for Beethoven as well.
Was it just an off night, or might the improbable placement of the symphony at the very beginning of the concert have been part of the problem?