A grand and fun-filled
By Ruth O. Bingham
finale for Symphony
Special to the Star-Bulletin
Carmina Burana - A Sonic Spectacular: 7:30 p.m. tomorrow, Blaisdell Concert Hall. Tickets $15-$47.50. Call 538-8863.
LIKE many symphonies, the Honolulu Symphony has stepped down from its cultural icon pedestal to become an integral part of its community. The tone of its concerts has shifted from solemn and distant to and friendly and intimate.
Concerts begin with announcements and news updates, sometimes even introductions of sponsors, inviting the audience into familiarity. Going to the symphony is now more social, more purely fun, than it has ever been.
Conductor Samuel Wong opened yesterday's concert with a surprise, his own "Fanfare for Eddie and Peggy" scored for five French horns and five timpani, in honor of two long-time supporters. Wong once again chose to showcase local talent, which strengthens ties with the community and boosts local interest, which in turn builds audiences.
Honolulu Symphony's Principal Clarinetist Scott Anderson performed Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, probably the best-known and most loved of all. As Mozart's penultimate work, the clarinet concerto evokes a fascination that seems only to grow with time. It has been used by Hollywood innumerable times, the first movement for its Gemuetlichkeit (Viennese good humor), the second for its heartrending, bittersweet beauty.
Anderson played beautifully with his full, well-placed tone and excellent shading. He and Wong caught the second movement's crucial tempo just right, stretched but still flowing, highlighting Anderson's control on long held notes. Mozart's concerto is not flashy, but Anderson is a fine performer, a fact well-known to regular audiences, and his reading was intense, sensitive, and intriguing.
Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana" filled the second half of the concert as well as the stage. In fact, fitting everyone on stage (ca. 200) in three combined choirs as well as a large orchestra and three soloists altered the acoustics. Those in front (violins and cellos) and in the upper back (male chorus) became more aurally prominent, while those in the middle (inner strings, winds and female chorus) faded. Moreover, the three soloists (one of whom had to sit behind the conductor) sang on the brink of the stage, placing them under lights that threw odd shadows onto their faces. A spotlight would have been welcome.
Both choruses and soloists mixed local talent with outside professionals. The Kyoto Philharmonic Chorus, directed by Yoshinaka Akashi, joined the Oahu Choral Society and Honolulu Waldorf School's Junior Chorus, both under the direction of Timothy Carney from the University of Hawaii.
The large combined chorus could not avoid the usual difficulties for large non-professional choruses -- the "shimmer" of inexact intonation, sliding into notes and unclear enunciation during rapid passages but nonetheless delivered a powerful, emotional performance.
Baritone Kenneth Roberson, in the most demanding soloist role, will be an artist to watch. His voice, still a young light lyric, has a rich and strong lower range, an extensive and beautiful middle range, with a break into an as yet undeveloped head voice.
Soprano Olga Makarina revealed a lovely light voice with good control. Although a coloratura soprano, her finest solo fell in her mid-to-lower range in an extended lyric melody with flautist Emma Moon. Gorgeous!
University of Hawaii's tenor Laurence Paxton delivered the most engaging solo. His highly expressive acting captured the audience before he sang a note, and his plaintive singing as the roasting swan emphasized the lack of a text translation in the program a serious omission for this work. What a shame he did not have more solos!
Orff's "Carmina Burana" is a tremendously exciting, even compelling work -- a grand finale by all meanings of the word "grand." It provided a triumphant and rousing close to the season.
Ruth O. Bingham has a Ph.D. in musicology from
Cornell University, is a free-lance writer and teaches part-time
at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
