It was a double whammy of sorts. The snowy and icy weather over the weekend of January 12 through 14 brought everything to a halt in Portland. The Oregon Symphony lost most of its concert engagements that featured pianist-composer Conrad Tao. But Monday night, January 15, things had improved enough for the orchestra to perform with Tao, and at least half of the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall was filled with patrons desperate to hear some great live music. They were treated to robust music with works by Tao, Haydn, and Rachmaninoff. Perhaps the musicians needed to release some pent-up feelings. Music Director David Danzmayr looked especially happy to be on stage. He briefly mentioned that his home had lost power for 50 hours because of the weather. He was just happy to be warm!
The inclement weather was the first whammy. The second had to do with my writing instruments. I almost always bring two pens with me when I attend concerts, just in case one of them has run dry or malfunctions (last summer one of my pens gushed ink all over my hand while I was trying to interview Leo Eguchi and Sasha Callahan at Reed College). On Monday night the first pen I tried was at the end of its life, and I inexplicably lost the other pen. I did my best to etch some words in my notebook – muttering to myself all the while – and afterwards it was like reading invisible ink.
So that means a short review, starting with the first piece on the program, Tao’s “Over” as in, perhaps, the idea of an overture. The ten-minute work had three brief movements, and it kicked off with several impressively sharp attacks from the keyboard and the orchestra. The first movement had a disjointed, herky-jerky feel (and this is when my pen ran dry). The music seemed to gather steam and then became more fragmented. According to Tao, the third movement was supposed to be dance-like, but it didn’t strike me that way, but it was spirited and uplifting at the end.
Somewhere in “Over” concertmaster Sarah Kwak created a series of extremely high sounds that were squeaky and birdlike. I could figure out how she created those sounds, so I asked her via email. She replied, stating “He wrote it 2 octaves above the written notes, which put me in nosebleed territory. I had to play above the fingerboard where the bow plays - basically there are no pitches there
Following “Over,” Tao teamed up with the orchestra for a thoroughly delightful rendition of Haydn’s “Concerto for Piano in D Major.” Tao and Danzmayr had done the piece with the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra (Columbus, Ohio) back in 2017 with “Over.” Tao and the orchestra brought out the witty and lighthearted nature of the Haydn, showing lots of fleet runs up and down the keyboard. The balance between all the performers was excellent, and considering that they pulled it off with – most likely – one rehearsal is amazing.
As an encore, Tao played his arrangement of Harold Arlen’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” with a nod to influences from Art Tatum. Tao superb artistry made the piece glisten.
The second half of the concert was devoted to Rachmaninoff’s “Symphony No. 2 in E minor.” The orchestra and Danzmayr gave it everything they had, and it flowed very well, oozing with lots of lyricism and rich, warm sounds that sent the audience home in a good mood.
Tao was scheduled to talk about his music at an Open Music event the following night, but freezing rain returned to Portland, and that show was cancelled. Well, let’s hope that Tao will be re-engaged with the orchestra in the near future. Maybe in the summer.
In the meantime, I’ve got to buy a package of pens!
No comments:
Post a Comment