Jeffrey Turner -- Bass, booze, buzz and Beetho Click photo for larger image.

Beer and Beethoven, martinis and Mozart. A nightclub is hardly the usual place for classical music, but a concert Saturday evening at Club Cafe on the South Side not only entertained but also offered a glimpse at how classical music might recapture some cultural vitality.

The group was the newly formed Pittsburgh Live Chamber Orchestra. This group of local freelancers hadn't received much response to its concerts so far in its inaugural year, so it took a substantial risk by moving this one to a nightclub. Under the able direction of Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra bassist Jeffrey Turner, the experiment paid off. I had more fun at this concert than I have at many in Carnegie Hall or Heinz Hall. And that's not just because I was able to sip a Guinness during the performance.

While there's no question that the quality of a PSO concert is higher or that the sublimity of classical music has its best showcase in the quiet confines of a concert hall, there is nothing like going to a publicly subsidized, museum-like hall to feel out of touch with the rest of one's life.

Sometimes you want to experience music with a buzz to it, and that doesn't mean classical music is automatically disqualified. A sold-out show at a small venue on the hip South Side strip had that effect even for ol' Beethoven and others. Hearing the overture to Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro" in this context conveyed its energy, in part because of how close the 20 or so musicians were to the audience, but also because the opera originally premiered in the competitive environment of 18th-century Vienna. There was real excitement here, and the audience reflected it by staying quiet during this and the other performances.

Likewise, the soloing of violinist Jeremy Black, also a PSOer, in Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, brought out the flamboyant, gypsy roots of solo violin-playing that inspired many romantic concerto composers. Black played with control and rich tone, but his standing right next to patrons' tables added a sense of wild abandon to his playing.

Turner got a meaty sound out of the orchestra and displayed a keen understanding of the overall form of the pieces, especially Beethoven's First Symphony, though the violins will have to work to blend better. Also, in the future a contemporary piece should be included to make concerts like this sustainable; pop or otherwise, new music is the name of the game in the profit sector.

But it was in the waning minutes of the concert, when Turner successfully exhorted the orchestra to drown out a revving motorcycle outside the club, that it became clear that classical music won't wilt if taken out of the hermetic environment of the concert hall.

I'll drink to that.

-- Andrew Druckenbrod,
PG classical music critic

Renaissance City Winds

The Renaissance City Winds combined the welcome intimacy of a parlor concert with an adventuresome musical spirit Friday night at McCintic Hall.

The tiny performance space, unknown to most, is in Calvary Episcopal Church, Shadyside. It turned out to be a gem of a location, with a lush resonance and a stage just big enough to accommodate the musicians.

The Renaissance ensemble first entertained its audience with a double aperitif. Bassoonist and composer R. James Whipple provided a tasty premiere of "Lunch with Amadeus," a brief piece d'occasion that accommodated each of the musicians with a Mozartean flair, which was followed by a lovely wind arrangement of Handel's "Water Music."

But the meat of the program was Gounod's "Petite Symphonie," here arranged for nine instruments. It proved to be an attractive, classically oriented piece marked by a galloping scherzo and a short, sweet finale. This work fit the wind ensemble like a glove, especially flutist Barbara O'Brien, who took advantage of numerous melodic opportunities.

The second half began with Nancy Galbraith's charmingly sophisticated "Dos Danzas Latinas." Galbraith asks for much from her musicians -- leaping registers and rhythmic entanglements that provided some continuity problems here -- and then imposes cleverly concealed endings that seem to dissipate into the air.

The ensemble concluded with the Beethoven Octet, bountifully addressing the contrasting dynamics and fleeting wit of the music with a consummate ease.

-- Jane Vranish, Post-Gazette

Youth symphony concert

The Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra opens its spring concert season at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the First Baptist Church in Oakland with a program titled "Stained Glass."

Music director Daniel Meyer will conduct the orchestra and the Grove City College Touring Choir in a program of Faure's Requiem. Tammy Tyburczy and Craig Verm from the Pittsburgh Opera Center will be the featured soloists.

The concert will repeat at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Grove City College's Pew Fine Arts Center. Both performances are free, but tickets are being distributed. Call 412-392-4872 for reservations.

-- Rosa Colucci, Post-Gazette