Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
By JOHN FLEMING
© St. Petersburg Times, published June 15, 2001
SARASOTA -- Carmen has provided quite a few musicians with party pieces. Violinists have Sarasate's fantastic showpiece, Carmen Fantasy. For encores, pianist Vladimir Horowitz used to bring down the house with a transcription from Bizet's opera.
But who knew there was a Carmen Fantasy for double bass? Well, Cincinnati composer and bassist Frank Proto created just such a work in the 1980s. It was given an infectious performance in Thursday's Artist Showcase concert at the Sarasota Music Festival by Paul Ellison on bass along with pianist Jonathan Spivey.
Divided into six sections, the suite includes some of the opera's familiar tunes -- Micaela's aria, the Toreador Song -- but what makes it really interesting is how the material is reworked into jazzy, almost improvisational form. Ellison did a good job of overcoming some initial intonation problems in stuffy Holley Hall, and he drew remarkably expressive tone from his instrument. Spivey plainly had a good time with the cocktail-lounge-piano part.
Proto's Carmen Fantasy (also available in a symphony orchestra arrangement, Ellison said) is a refreshing addition to the slim solo repertoire for bass. It's the sort of off-the-beaten-track programming the festival tends to include in Artist Showcases. Friday and Saturday concerts, played in larger Van Wezel Hall, are more mainstream, with tonight's concert anchored by Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 and Schubert's cello quintet.
Pianist John Perry opened Thursday's program with an emphatic rendition of Chopin's Polonaise in F-sharp minor, playing up the dramatic contrast between throbbing percussive effects and a dainty mazurka.
Critics invariably describe Roussel's Op. 40 trio as "astringent," and some of it sounded that way Thursday, especially the viola (Patricia McCarty) and cello (Ronald Leonard), perfectly designed to set off the sweetness of the flute, played with sparkling charm by Leone Buyse.
The Sarasota Music Festival continues with concerts at 8 tonight and Saturday night at Van Wezel Hall. Tickets: $20-$34. (941) 953-3434 or (800) 287-9634.