PERFORMING ARTS

Monday, May 12, 2008

Fairfax Symphony Orchestra

Thi s is the way an era ends: not with a bang or a whimper but with a melody -- specifically, that of Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5. The work was chosen by William Hudson as the final piece in his last Masterworks concert as music director of the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra.

At George Mason University's Center for the Arts on Saturday night, the orchestra gave its all to Hudson, who has led the ensemble since 1971. Every section shone in the symphony's first movement, with piquant brass and percussion above the strings' solid foundation. The wonderful Scherzo, a heady blend of the sardonic and the sensuous, was a percussion showcase: woodblocks, snare drum, tambourine, piano and more. The strings brought near-Tchaikovskian lushness to the Adagio, and the finale featured snarky woodwinds and plenty of rhythmic bite.

It was a top-notch conclusion after a less enthralling first half. Strings were warm and winds delicate in Debussy's "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun," but the rhythms drifted. And Bruch's "Scottish Fantasy," with violinist Elmar Oliveira, showed the orchestra in better form than the soloist. For the first three-quarters of the work, Oliveira was unfocused, making bowing and intonation errors. Kate Hazzard Rogers, her harp placed at the front of the stage to accentuate its prominence, played very well, but this is not a double concerto. Only in the final Allegro Guerriero did Oliveira sound fully involved and rhythmically strong.

The six curtain calls for Hudson after the Prokofiev acknowledged the maestro as a class act -- who leaves his not-yet-chosen successor a very classy orchestra.

-- Mark J. Estren

Baltimore Opera: 'Madama Butterfly'

Complaints of seasickness were common at the Baltimore Opera Company's "Madama Butterfly" Saturday night, but despite their vertiginous effect, the undulating projections that replaced sets were the most successful aspect of the production.

It was like being drawn into an Imax film as frothy waves crested forward and kaleidoscopic designs of Japanese flowers swirled around the Lyric Opera House stage, the way they might have in B.F. Pinkerton's head upon his first meeting with Butterfly. With the visuals shifting at nearly every reference to atmosphere in the libretto, it was easy to get queasy, or at least distracted. But at best, as when the Japanese flag's red circle was replaced by the ocean that separated the title character from her American husband, the images were a poignant and innovative way to capture the physical and emotional landscape of the opera.

The singers were less memorable, with the ethereal female chorus the most effective presence onstage. In the title role, soprano Shu-Ying Li sang with more than enough power: elegantly shaped phrases in "Un bel dì" and rapturous high notes in her Act 1 duet with Pinkerton. Her voice was often abrasive at full force, however, with a cold, steely timbre particularly noticeable in her middle range. José Luis Duval's ardent Pinkerton, Misoon Ghim's Suzuki and especially John Packard's richly sung Sharpless were all sensitively acted but too light to soar above the lush strings for the thrilling climaxes that Puccini's music rests on. Conductor Stephen Mould could have reined in his orchestra; its playing was not so strong as to justify drowning out the voices.

-- Ronni Reich

St. Petersburg String Quartet

One of the perks for string quartets invited to play at the Library of Congress is the privilege of performing on the library's fabulous Stradivarius instruments. But one doesn't just jump into a Ferrari and speed off to the race. Musicians must arrive a few days early to road-test the rare specimens.

The St. Petersburg String Quartet, with additional violist Michael Tree, arrived Wednesday to test the Cremonese Strads for Friday's concert of music by Mendelssohn, Schnittke and Dvorak.

The first violin drives Mendelssohn's String Quintet, Op. 87. Alla Aranovskaya bowed with extraordinary gusto in the vigorous outer movements, but the ride wasn't always smooth. Her 1699 "Castelbarco" Strad occasionally veered off pitch or emitted a dry rasp -- sounds not typical of her own instrument. The genteel scherzando -- such a contrast with Mendelssohn's typically bustling scherzos -- danced cheerfully, with both violas droning under a delicate melody.

Drones and drumbeats figured prominently in Dvorak's String Quintet, Op. 97, written in the Czech-settled village of Spillville, Iowa. Like its popular sibling, the "American" Quartet, the music is flush with the spirit of open spaces and native sounds.

Indian-like rhythms and rustic strumming effects displayed the requisite bounce, but with little joy. Except for violist Boris Vayner's lonesome solo and a lovely theme and variations, the performance sounded more like Dvorak was in Spillville for business than vacation.

Sandwiched between the two quintets, Alfred Schnittke's brilliantly witty, biting and sometimes violent String Quartet No. 3 received a muscular and transparent performance. All of Schnittke's borrowed fragments (from Beethoven, Shostakovich and Lassus) and inner voices -- either muffled, swirling or shrieking -- were charged with energy.

The vintage Strads seemed to enjoy the workout.

-- Tom Huizenga

Mobtown Modern

Modern-art museums are a natural home for contemporary music, as demonstrated again when Baltimore's Contemporary Museum launched the Mobtown Modern series in January. On Friday night, curators Brian Sacawa and Erik Spangler led a small group of musicians in a brief but alluring survey of minimalism to close out Mobtown's maiden mini-season. None of the so-called minimalist composers approves of the term, but it is an effective description of the compositional process, a subtle variation of repeated short musical patterns, through which larger structures gradually grow out of the original cell.

Philip Glass was represented by "Music in Similar Motion," a breathless exploration of a constantly undulating arpeggiated pattern. Steve Reich's "Vermont Counterpoint" combined live and recorded sounds by the versatile Katayoon Hodjati on piccolo, flute and alto flute. That treble-oriented work was contrasted with Michael Gordon's "The Low Quartet," scored for the unforgettable combination of four baritone saxophones. Violinist Lisa Liu, after a difficult trip to Baltimore, was visibly flustered during her performance of Nico Muhly's "Honest Music," as the prerecorded part of the work emanated from only one speaker.

The concert concluded by going back to the origins of minimalism, with Terry Riley's "In C." A set of 53 melodic fragments that are combined improvisationally, the work can last from one to three hours when played by a larger ensemble, unfolding in a way that recalls the majestic evocation of the Rhine at the opening of Wagner's "Das Rheingold." With guiding rhythms provided by beatboxer Shodekeh, it became instead a sort of hip-hop chamber chill piece, an impression reinforced by the scented candles and colored lighting in the dark museum.

-- Charles T. Downey