Since the vast majority of orchestral concertos are written for the piano or violin, it was refreshing to hear the trumpet as the featured instrument at Vancouver Symphony concert last weekend. Trumpeter Craig Morris blew his way into the VSO record books with sterling performances of concertos by Josef Haydn and Krzysztof Penderecki on Sunday afternoon, November 6, at SkyView Concert Hall with Salvador Brotons leading the hometown band.
Morris’s pedigree with the trumpet includes a Grammy nomination in 2019 in the Best Classical Instrumental Solo category for his recording, Three Pieces in the Shape of a Square. He has been the principal trumpet of the Chicago Symphony and associate principal at the San Francisco Symphony. He is a longtime faculty member at the Frost School of Music in Miami, Florida.
The pairing of the two concertos on the VSO program made a neat one-two punch. The Haydn Trumpet Concerto, one of the finest pieces for that instrument ever written, is popular for its beautiful melodies yet requires technical prowess. In his performance, Morris demonstrated full command of the piece, delivering a nuanced interpretation that included well-placed diminuendos and crescendos. His cadenza in the first movement started with a cascade of high notes and a variation on the main theme. He played the slow second movement with terrific sensitivity and finished off the third with a spritely flourish.
Penderecki’s Concertino for Trumpet and Orchestra requires that the soloist begin offstage; so, it was odd to see Morris walk to centerstage after the pieced started. But that actually worked well with the orchestra part, which accompanied him with a circus-like fanfare. Morris executed a lot of tricky-sounding passages and played a segment with muted trumpet before switching to the flugelhorn, which transitioned the piece to a mellow Larghetto. With principal flutist Rachel Rencher and the orchestra, Morris created a mysterious atmosphere and a bit of suspense before going to an agitated section. Later, returning to the trumpet, another a highlight was a passage with bass clarinetist Barbara Heilmar that sounded a bit like walking through the woods. The last part of the piece was sort of a race down the home stretch with Morris and the orchestra crossing the finish line exactly together.
The audience responded the Penderecki piece with loud applause, and Morris followed it with an encore on the flugelhorn, playing Melody No. 8 from his album of music for solo trumpet by Philip Glass. Its pleasant, melancholic theme was acknowledged by listeners with a warm response.
Beethoven’s “Egmont Overture,” which opened the concert, received a spirited and rewarding performance from Brotons and the orchestra. All of the thematic material was clearly shown and woven, and it all culminated in a stirring ending. Bravos all around.
The second half of the concert featured Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Brotons and company gave the piece a solid interpretation, starting out of the gate with its iconic, forceful four-note statement. The horns scored points for its polished sound that had just the right amount of wildness. The orchestral forces distinguished themselves with excellent crescendos and decrescendos in the second movement, which reinforced its dramatic character. The third movement had enough thrust to propel the piece into the fourth and, urged on by Brotons’ emphatic conducting, the orchestra, accented by Forian Consetti’s timpani, generated an exciting, triumphant finale.
During the enthusiastic acclaim from all corners of the hall, Brotons waded into the orchestra to acknowledge the contributions from the musicians. That put the finishing touches on a winning concert.
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