Friday, December 26, 2003

BY ANDREW DRUCKENBROD, PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE

The financial situation has been rough on the local groups, but it hasn't stopped smart programming or hindered great performances. Case in point is the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Mired in every sort of complication you could imagine, it still managed excellent concerts. And that doesn't even consider the brilliant work it did on tour in Europe this past summer.

I wish I had more space for three trippy concerts I saw at the Byham: the pop/art group Sigur Ros, the Pittsburgh Opera's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and the St. Petersburg State Academic Capella Choir.

But we must play by the rules:

1. "THE FLYING DUTCHMAN," PITTSBURGH OPERA

Benedum Center, Nov. 15

This production struck a blow for artistry in Pittsburgh. A Wagner opera, a nontraditional set and non-European singers. Any one of these three aspects was a risk for a company of Pittsburgh Opera's size, yet it did all three.

But with great risk comes great reward. Everything came together so well for this production, aided by the presence of the original stage director, Christopher Alden. The set sparked the imagination by eschewing traditional ships and spinning wheels in favor of a symbolic rectangular box with a wheel in the middle. The production promoted interpretation, deepening Wagner's reading of the myth and offering an alternative view of the plot as a dream-laden interaction between Senta (Margaret Jane Wray) and Erik (Thomas Studebaker). In short, it respected the audience's intelligence.

The dominating force of Greer Grimsley (Dutchman) combined with Dean Peterson (Daland), Susan Shafer (Mary), Jason Collins (Steersman), Wray and Studebaker to create a group without an Achilles heel. Whether together or solo, they lent the production the vocal credibility it needed to spread its radically interpretive wings.

2. MSTISLAV ROSTROPOVICH, PSO

Heinz Hall, Feb. 2

This was the concert that pulled the PSO out of its doldrums as a group constantly asking for money and gave it much-needed momentum. The musicians seemed to be energized by Mstislav Rostropovich as conductor, performer and true believer in music's positive powers. The audience certainly was, with sales picking up following this concert.

Conductor Rostropovich's firsthand experience with the composer helped craft a harrowing Shostakovich's Symphony No. 9. As a cellist, he played a tribute for the fallen astronauts of the Columbia in addition to daring interpretations of Saint-Saens' Cello Concerto No. 1 and Tchaikovsky's "Variations on a Rococo Theme."

3. LANG LANG, PSO

Heinz Hall, Feb. 14

Every once in a while a young performer comes along who creates an uncommon excitement. Pianist Lang Lang was just that in this concert of Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" with conductor Mariss Jansons. With unassailable confidence he tore into the expansive piece, with the audience hanging on every phrase. No empty virtuosity here, just a direct link to the world of gargantuan pianists of old. A commanding Beethoven Symphony No. 2 led by Jansons completed this concert.

4. JANSONS, PSO

Heinz Hall, Nov. 21

This concert lost pianist Emanuel Ax (to injury) and still proved list-worthy. It was one of those nights where there wasn't a huge-name soloist, flashy program or world premiere. Just great music-making. I am still humming Schumann's Symphony No. 3, "Rhenish," which is amazing since it's hard to hum this dry Germanic composer. That's how determined and skillful an interpretation Jansons developed, and how heartily the musicians responded. Then came Krzysztof Penderecki's Violin Concerto performed with vigor by Julian Rachlin.

5. GIL SHAHAM, Y MUSIC SOCIETY

JCC Katz Auditorium, April 15

Violinist Gil Shaham rebuts just about every trend of the classical market today. He's not a half-naked gal nor does he hawk lame rock arrangements. Instead, he just plays the classics with personal interpretation in the realm of sensibility.

His recital (with pianist Akira Eguchi) of Bach's Partita No. 2, a work overly dramatized by the recent CD, "Morimur" summed up his approach. Played so slowly there, Shaham bucked fashion and took the piece at a brisker pace. "His reading had contours of dynamics and phrasing, but it didn't romanticize the music," I wrote. With works by Faure and Copland, this consummate artist was fantastic as personalized interpreter and keeper of the flame.

6. "DIDO & AENEAS," "VENUS & ADONIS"; CHATHAM BAROQUE, THE RENAISSANCE & BAROQUE SOCIETY

Synod Hall, Oct. 4

With the period group Chatham Baroque, veteran early-music singers Julianne Baird and Curtis Streetman, choir meister John Goldsmith and the R&B joining together, these two baroque operas had plenty of resources. The result, they leapt off the stage. The production brought out human emotions so simply displayed by composers Purcell and Blow. This was exemplified by Dido's "Lament," sung profoundly by Baird, and made more poignant since the concerts marked the last performing appearances by Chatham Baroque's late violinist, Emily Davidson.

7. TAKACS QUARTET, MUZSIKAS; PITTSBURGH CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY

Carnegie Hall, March 26

This unique concert brought together an audience of classical aficionados and folk fans and exposed them all to so much more. By playing Bartok's original field tapes of village musicians and Hungarian folk music prior to performing quartets by Bartok and Kodaly, Muzsikas gave the audience an understanding of the compositions' background. Takacs performed them passionately and vibrantly, but it was the entire fabric of the concert that succeeded on so many levels. (Jane Vranish)

8. PITTSBURGH CHAMBER MUSIC PROJECT

Andy Warhol Museum, Feb. 11

By the time George Crumb's avant-garde quartet, "Black Angels," progressed to the section asking for bowing above their fingers to simulate baroque viols, I was already mesmerized. A few strains of this mysterious, ethereal music and I could hardly hold back the emotions. The piece is powerful, but credit also goes to the foursome of Pittsburgh Symphony members, violinists Dennis O'Boyle and Sarah Blomquist, violist Marylene Gingras-Roy and cellist Michael Lipman. Capable musicians all, they were able to look beyond the difficult score to the meaning of the dark and lamenting work. A solo performance by cellist Aron Zelkowicz (Crumb's Sonata for Solo Cello) was another highlight of this adventurous and exciting concert.

9. "SUMMER AND SMOKE," OPERA THEATER OF PITTSBURGH

William Penn Snyder Mansion, Sept. 26

This was the local premiere of a worthwhile American opera, by contemporary composer Lee Hoiby, with a cast of stature. Opera Theater of Pittsburgh produced it in the intimate space of this North Side mansion. Combined with the fascinating way artistic director Jonathan Eaton staged it, you felt you were right there, part of the event. Finding different spaces to stage operas has become the hallmark of Eaton's run with this company. (Robert Croan)

10. U3 FESTIVAL

Carnegie Music Hall & Bellefield Hall, March 12-13, 15

This was a landmark meeting, long overdue, of the city's top composers. Academic music used to be, well, academic, but the stellar composers at Pittsburgh's big three (Pitt, Carnegie Mellon and Duquesne) are not stodgy or severe in the least. The U3 festival spanned three days, two venues and several university ensembles to display what a diverse tapestry these composers weave here each year. It had the thrill of discovery and the connection to living art.

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