Review: Vancouver Symphony celebrates Simon, Copland, and Gershwin in All-American program

 

The Vancouver Symphony celebrated the nation’s 250^th birthday in grand style at Skyview Concert Hall (February 21) with an All-American program that put the spotlight on the orchestra rather than on a soloist. The lineup was bookended with works by Carlos Simon and George Gershwin, drawing from African-American music, which aptly complemented Black History Month. Filling in the center were two beloved works by Aaron Copland, and all of the selections were led energetically by Music Director Salvador Brotons, who noted their challenging musical demands.

Simon, whose album Requiem for the Enslaved, was nominated for a Grammy-award in 2023, has emerged as one of our country’s best composers. His music has been performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, and many other ensembles.

The VSO opened its concert with Simon’s Four Black American Dances, which was commissioned and premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2023. In the first dance, “Ring Shout,” the percussion section created crispy snaps and dashes. The strings launched into a vigorous motoric sequence. Raspy trumpets and sliding trombones put everything into a groove that went full bore. The strings led the way in an elegant and leisurely second dance, “Waltz,” and the third dance “Tap!” took things up a notch with the snare drum accenting the sound. The final dance, “Holy Dance,” had a delightful mélange with tubular bells, snappy wood stick, and wah-wah-ing trombones that suggested a Hamond-organ sound. The piece wrapped up in big-band-symphonic style that reminded me of Gershwin.

Next on the program came “Four Dances Episodes” from Rodeo, which Copland originally wrote as a ballet for Agnes de Mille. The orchestra kicked things off with a feisty “Buckaroo Holiday,” that conveyed the lively goings-on at a rodeo. The gentle interplay between the bassoon and oboe, the dusky sound from the lower strings, and the soothing trumpets gave the “Corral Nocturne” a poignant quality. The famous melody permeated the “Saturday Night Waltz” with a lovely, relaxed feeling. The “Hoe-Down” charged up the atmosphere with toe tapping energy.

Copland originally wrote Appalachian Spring for thirteen instruments, but his version for full orchestra, which he uncorked a year later (1945) captures the original spirit of the piece perfectly. Brotons paced the orchestra deftly so that the music opened slowly and gracefully like a flower in bloom. The animated sections galloped along well, although the oboist struggled to play some phrases cleanly. The Shaker Hymn “Simple Gifts” sounded carefree and graceful, and the orchestra concluded the piece resolutely and with an air of hopefulness.

Saving the best for last, the orchestra gave an inspired performance of Catfish Row, which is a suite of tunes from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, which is considered the greatest and most-well known American opera ever written. Inflected with musical style of Black Americans, including jazz, most of the audience recognized familiar numbers like “Summertime” and “Bess You Is My Woman Now.”  The brass section of the orchestra really got into the swing of the jazzy style from the opening passages, which have a busy, bustling openness and hopefulness. Michael Liu made the piano sing with the strains of honkytonk strains of “Jazzbo Brown’s Piano Blues” and special guest Peter Frajola (former associate concertmaster of the Oregon Symphony) brightened things up with his banjo for the “I Got Plenty of Nuttin” song. The orchestra aptly delivered passages that portray a hurricane, violent fights, and several other dramatic moments of the opera - all of led up to the thrilling finale when Porgy eagerly resolves to go to New York City to pursue Bess. It all made this reviewer wonder if there would be a way for the VSO to present a concert version someday.