OCR Text |
Show The Salt LakeTr Tribune ARTS Sunday, April 7, 2002 Fresh, Familiarat Utah Symphony BY CELIA R BAKER Although each piece on the pro Two guests join the Utah Sym phonythis weekend, a familiar face and a new one. French-Canadian pia- nist Louis Lortie is well known here Anne Manson conducts the Abravanel Hall, 123 W. South Temple. Works by Schumann, phony’s podium for thefirst time. ¢ program ferthe concert pair is program also a blend of old and new. Lortie joins the orchestra for Grieg’s popular Piano Concertoin A minor, Op.16, and the Utah Symphonyplaysthe familiar “Rhenish” Symphony by Schumann t major, Op. 97). A recent symphonyfor strings, Balsis (“Voices”), by Latvian composer Peteris Vasks, will receive its Utah premiere. Mansonis a picneerin the conser- peaks when they hear the dramatic crash of the Grieg Concerto’s opening chords. “It's funnythat people think of it being so Norwegian. | think it is so Germanic. Grieg had been studying in Utah Symphony in concerts featuring pianist Louis Lortie Friday and Saturdayat 8 p.m. at tor Anne Mansonis at the Utah Sym- after several previousvisits. Conduc- (Symphony No. 3 in gramis, in a way, nationalistic, Lortie disagrees with those who imagine Norway's fiords and snow-capped @ Abravanel Hail THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Grieg and Vasks are on the Utah Symphony Germanyand was very influenced by Schumann and Wagner. For me it is associate not necessarily connected with Nor- conductor Scott O'Neil will give way. It’s a very European piece, but not absolutely Norwegian. The last movementis the exception. It is more pre-concert lectures each evening at 7:15 p.m. in thefirst tier reception room at Abrav- anel Hall. | Tickets are $16 to $43. Call (801) 355-ARTS. Utah Symphony subscribers should call (801) 533-NOTE.For groupdiscounts cali (801) 715-9211. vative worldofclassical music, which historically denied opportunityto female conductors. She made history in 1994 by becoming the first woman to conduct at Austria's Salzburg Festival, leading an acclaimed perfor- mance of “Boris Godunov” with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Manson was appointed conductor of the Kansas City Symphony in September1999, one of only a handful of women in America to helm major or- chestras. She is a graduate of Radeliffe College at Harvard University and also studied in England at Pianist Louis Lortie, who has played with the Utah Symphony several times, will team up with conductor Anne Manson, who will take the symphony podium for the first time. King’s College, London, and at Royal College of Music , where she wonall of the major conducting prizes. Each work on the program Manson selected for the Utah Symphony has a strong connection to a particular influenced by folk-dance themes.” Lortie is playing all of during the 2001-2002 season, but he likes returning to a familiar “warhorse,” such as the Grieg Concerto, while on tour. Because conductors, region and culture. The Piano Con. certo in A minor, nicknamed “Norwe gian Concerto,” is the most famous most composer. The “ phony was written during § mann’s tenure as a conductorin Germany’s Rhineland distirct, and is a tribute to the beautyof that area. Vasks’ “Voices” is steeped in the orchestra players and audiences know the piece well, hefeels confident of a trouble-free performance, even if re- hearsal timeis short. He likes the artistic leewaythat Concerto in A minor allows. “It's an incrediblyeffective thing. You can change so many things — the cadenzas, the free-timed passages.It's almost an improvised piece in many plai ‘or me all the pleasure of per- spirit of Latvia, and shaped bythein. tonation, phrasing and accents of the Latvian language. The symphony written in 1991, shortly beforeLatv: bloodyrelease from the heel of Soviet formingit depends on whatis given to you by the orchestra. There is a lot of soloistic display in the piece anda lot oppression, and the work reflects the ductor and the musicians. That's what's fun. You never know what is staunch patriotism of the Latvian people. of communication between soloist and orchestra interplay with the con- going to happen.” Australian Chamber Orchestra Stresses Basic Black, Open Minds BY CATHERINE } REESENEV NEWTON ‘THE SALTLA SALT LAKE ‘TRIBUNE The Libby Gardner Hall Virtuoso Series ends Thursdaywith a visit from the Australian Chamber Orchestra. The orchestrais noted for performing standing up and for dressing in casual black -— so “it doesn’t looklike | | @ From Down Under The Australian Chamber Orchestra plays Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Libby Gardner Concert Hall at the University of Utah. Tickets are $25; $10 for students. we're pee bi toa 19th century dinner ball,” as artistic director and violinist Richard Tognetti put it. More important, ‘Tognetti said, is the orchestra's musical vision. “I suppose wetry to look at as many different musical forms as possible and incorporate them,” Tognetti said ina phone interview from Costa Mesa, Calif., as the orchestra was launching its 15-city, coast-to-coast U.S. tour. “It ranges from the way we play early music to our collaborations with artists such as Neil Finn [formerly of Split Enz] and everything in between. “There is a very strong sense of shared sensibility,” he said. “Every- onein the orchestra is open-minded to different ways ofdoing things. There's no such thing as ‘We've donethis for 15 years and can’t do it any other way.” Tognetti said the orchestra members, whose “average age is thirtysomething,” grew up immersed in popular as well as classical music and 80 feel comfortable in both worlds. He also acknowledged a musical debt to Frans Brueggen, Anner Bylsma, Nikolaus Harnoncourt and other early-music pioneers of the 1970s. “This modern generation has a far more open mind towards early mu- sic,” he said. Thursday’s concert features music of two eras. The first half of the program consists of Haydn's Symphony No. 22 (“The Philosopher”) and Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 9 (“Jeunehomme”), with Stephen Hough as soloist. On the second half are the String Sonata No. 2 by contemporary Australian composerPeter Sculthorpe and the Divertimento by Bela Bartok, which Tognetti called “probably the greatest string work of the 20th century.” ‘The Australian Chamber Orches tra, founded in 1975, does eight concert series each season in eight major Australian cities, from coast to coast, and twointernational tours. “J don't think there is any group this size in the world” that tours as widely, Tognetti said. Escape this spring to beautiful Homestead Resort Incredibly priced at $79 Wednesdays & Thursdays at 7:30 pm Fridays & Saturdays at Bpm Sundays at 2pm & 7pm Now Thru April 28 ickeTS. «$i Naor eee ea) the Beethoven concertos and the complete Chopin Etudes in other appearances |