A lasting and lyrical Brahms collaboration
By JOHN FLEMING
Published May 2, 2005
TAMPA - Ani Kavafian's performance of the Brahms Violin Concerto with the Tampa Bay Symphony on Sunday was not just a musical treat. It was also a great example of how artistic values can be transmitted from a top-level professional to amateur players who make music for the love of it.
To have shared Brahms with a violinist of Kavafian's caliber - she has played with many of the leading musicians of our time in orchestras and chamber music groups - will be a marvelous influence on the symphony for years to come.
She gave a warmly lyrical reading of the concerto in Ferguson Hall of Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, right from the violin's dramatic entrance after the long orchestral introduction. Kavafian is a brilliant player, and she has a brilliant instrument, a 1736 Stradivarius, that allowed her to range effortlessly from fiery forte in the opening theme to an almost conversational softness with various combinations of instruments from the orchestra.
The Tampa Bay Symphony is large (with a dozen cellos, for example), and music director Jack Heller did a good job of keeping the loudness at bay. He managed the tricky transition from Kavafian's virtuosic run through the cadenza in the first movement back to the orchestra in sensitive fashion.
An amateur orchestra doesn't have the refinement of a professional ensemble, and the lack of technical polish can be exposed in solos. But Heller and the players had clearly worked hard on the Brahms, and they had a wonderfully collegial partner in Kavafian.
The symphony is not without some impressive talent of its own. Concertmaster Halina Bobrow once played in the Toronto Symphony and the Cleveland Orchestra, and under her leadership the violins sounded strong. Bruce Blowers, the principal oboe, handled his important solo at the beginning of the second movement with aplomb.
Kavafian whipped through the gypsy fiddling of the finale with sensational flair, a fitting flourish to a memorable performance.
Along with its world-class soloist, the symphony had a world premiere, Ishtar: Music of the Realm by James Eversole. The nine-minute work juxtaposed the flowing strings of a Hollywood movie score with jaunty brass and percussion that wouldn't be out of place in a marching band's half-time show. What it all might have to do with the Babylonian goddess Ishtar was not evident.
Stravinsky's Scherzo a la Russe and Liszt's Les Preludes were also played.
REVIEW: The Tampa Bay Symphony repeats its program at 8 p.m. today at the Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg. $12.