Rousing ‘Overture’
By Ruth O. Bingham
highlights concert
Special to the Star-BulletinTchaikovsky's 1812 Overture Orchestral Spectacular: Honolulu Symphony and Pearl City High School Band. Repeats 7:30 p.m. tomorrow, Blaisdell Concert Hall. Tickets, $15-$50. Limited number of $7.50 tickets on sale at the box office up to one hour before the performance. Call 538-8863.
RACHMANINOFF'S Symphony No. 2 -- centerpiece of Honolulu Symphony's second Russian concert -- must be the quintessential Romantic symphony. Nostalgic, lush, achingly beautiful, melancholy, striving toward the sublime, encompassing a world -- nay, a universe -- and built along epic lines.
It harkens back to en era with more time, an era in which artists and audiences were less rushed and more willing to contemplate vast concepts in detail. Remember Dostoevsky? Tolstoy?
At more than an hour long, but without a single extraneous note, Rachmaninoff's second symphony demands concentration from both sides of the podium. Quite a few audience members nodded off, or struggled not to, while others seemed to daydream, lounging on a luxurious musical cushion. Perhaps it was a lot to ask of a Sunday afternoon.
Led by maestro Samuel Wong, however, the Honolulu Symphony delivered a fine, focused performance. There were moments of great power, of great beauty and numerous strong solos. The brass, in particular, were stronger than last week and it was a rare treat to hear the work in its entirety.
Following intermission, the symphony presented a suite of four numbers from Rimsky-Korsakov's opera The Snow Maiden: Introduction, Dance of the Birds, Procession and Dance of the Buffoons.
Although the suite is not well known, the program omitted titles for the numbers -- an unfortunate and recurring problem. Audiences have to guess how many movements there will be and are deprived of the meaning offered by the descriptive titles.
The Snow Maiden showcased Rimsky-Korsakov's ingenious orchestration. Despite a large orchestra and in contrast to many works of the same era, the music was light, lighthearted, charming and vivid. Wong's delightful rendition of Dance of the Birds had the audience laughing.
If The Snow Maiden suite was, as Wong called it, a musical petit four, then Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture was a chocolate cannonball, bombast of the finest quality. Great art it is not, but it is great fun and great musical fun is probably as important to culture as great art.
Wong played the piece for all its worth. The only thing missing was a real cannon firing over the audience's heads. Wong nonetheless retained the excitement and danger of the original 1812 battle, both through the music and with his flying baton (discreetly retrieved by the cellos). It was quite a performance!
Wong invited 50 members of Pearl City High School's top wind ensemble to play optional parts for band, parts included by Tchaikovsky but often omitted in performances.
The student band blended well with the orchestra, adding extra emphasis to the work's final moments and lending an atmosphere of community. Congratulations for a job well done Pearl City!
Ruth O. Bingham has a Ph.D. in musicology
from Cornell University and is a free-lance writer.
