Oregon Symphony Brass have a blast at the Lot at Zidell Yards

Norman Huynh, Jeff Garza, and the Oregon Symphony brass | Photo - Connor Meyer

It was truly a wonderful and memorable experience to hear live music again with real live musicians and a real live audience! That was the overwhelming feeling on Friday evening (June 18) at the Lot at Zidell Yards, a new outdoor venue at the foot of the Ross Island Bridge in the South Waterfront neighborhood of Portland. The brass section of the Oregon Symphony gave a festive performance of pieces that spanned centuries and styles under the direction of associate conductor Norman Huynh. The enthusiasm of Huynh and the musicians and the audience was palpable. After the concert concluded, people didn’t rush away. They lingered and seemed to savor the moment. Most of them, like the musicians, had waited 15 months for an opportunity to hear music that was not funneled to them over a computer laptop or was pre-recorded. The concert was like receiving a vaccine shot! Hallelujah!

Notwithstanding a cool breeze, which blew some of the scores off of a few music stands and almost off of the conductor’s stand (Huynh demonstrated cat-quick reflexes more than once), the performers and the audience had a blast. All of the selections were played with great sensitivity to dynamics and pacing. Huynh peppered his commentary to each piece with bits of music history, anecdotal blurb, and humor – just the right blend to give the musicians a break to rest their embouchures. A giant screen provided close-ups of the musicians, so that even those who sat furthest away didn’t miss a thing.

The concert kicked off with Joan Tower’s “Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman” No. 1 and proceed apace with an equally robust ensemble number for two brass choirs by Giovanni Gabrieli. One of the most unusual numbers was Samuel Barber’s “Mutations from Bach,” which included recitatives – given to the French horns – from Bach’s Cantata No. 23. I would like to hear this again someday in a concert hall because the muted sections were difficult to hear.

Principal trumpeter Jeffrey Work conquered Edwin Franko Goldman’s “American Fantasia” with panache. It contained an inventive mixture of folk songs like “Yankee Doodle Dandy” and hymns, such as “Jesus Loves the Little Children of the World.” Work expertly negotiated a dizzying array of runs on his cornet despite a couple of cold jolts from the wind.

Trumpeter Jeff Work  | Photo - James Bash

 
Edward Elgar’s “Nimrod” (arranged by Jay Lichtman) received a fine performance with a big climax that Huynh and the musicians fashioned. This was followed by a stately rendition of James Weldon Johnson’s “Lift Every Voice and Sing” (arranged by Jari A. Villanueva) in tribute to Juneteenth. Then came Ástor Piazzola’s “Maria of Buenos Aires” (arranged by Steven Verhelst) in a performance that had bounce and verve plus a really wicked fugue introduced by the trombones.

Jeff Garza made his solo debut as the orchestra’s new principal French hornist with Hoagy Carmichael’s “Stardust” (in an arrangement by John Iveson). Gaza created a lovely, warm sound that complimented the dimming skyline.

The ensemble wound up the evening with a wonderful “Carmen Suite” by arranger Douglas Hasilip of music from Bizet’s opera “Carmen” and finally “Quidditch,” which John Williams wrote for the Harry Potter movies.

 
Between one of the pieces, just after one of the windy blasts, Huynh commented, “We missed our opportunity to play music from Gone with the Wind.”

Aptly said!

Barry Douglas delights OSO audiences with a surprise Beethoven Concerto

Barry Douglas

Sunday February 25 saw Oregon Symphony audiences presented with a surprise performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor by Barry Douglas, who flew in to Portland from Belfast 2 nights before opening night upon the illness of pianist Francesco Piemontesi, who had been slated to perform Franck's Symphonic Variations and Richard Strauss' Burleske.

Opening with Samuel Barber's Second Essay for Orchestra,  the OSO played this incredibly lush and inviting work well, changing from somber and beautiful to frenetic chasing, spritely and light, with a sure and deft hand.

The orchestral interpretation that associate conductor Norman Huynh chose for the Beethoven was a bit too polite and reserved, but Douglas was in fine form. His opening was dry, exposed and intimate, almost intentionally self-conscious it seemed, and he showed a deft, singing baritone that cut through the orchestral texture without being too pronounced. One could feel the true delight in his playing, which was almost dreamy at times.  The Largo was sleepy and yet his arpeggios were somehow quietly thunderous, gentle and yet full of character. The finale allowed Douglas to display show off his fireworks in the lightning chromatic motives. This was a performance marked by true understanding, and emotional as well as physical dexterity.

The marvelous, lengthy crescendo in the first movement of the Sibelius was built on spectral trumpet echoes and fierce tremolando from the strings, and the bassoon played a sad, baleful melody behind. There were balance issues during the fortissimos; it seemed impossible to restrain the crashing brass, and strings were at times completely subsumed though they were pounding away with all fury. Huynh however did a good job at bringing out a vague sense of menace, which could easily have been glossed over.  The Andante mosso was as pastoral as one could want, with different textures exploding from the depths of a dense sound-sea. The work closed with a grandiose blend from the brass, eliciting every ounce of emotion from the august swan theme.