by Ken Hoover
November 16, 2008, Durham, NC: The Chamber
Orchestra of the Triangle,
under the baton of the peripatetic Lorenzo Muti, took the audience
on a romantic
tour of Spain in this afternoon program. The orchestra was joined by
Mary Gayle Greene, mezzo-soprano, Robert Belinic, guitar, and Tamara
Farias Kraus, actress, each of whom added spice, flavor, and color
to make the trip more authentic.
Music and memory are magical partners in the enjoyment of this art
form. In one sense, music exists only as long as the unique tone vibrates
in the ear. But in that moment, a multitude of sensory events occur.
You may vividly recall a place or a taste or a face or many other things
triggered by the tones of the instruments (and voice, on this occasion).
But the music does not stop to allow you to linger on that memory.
It proceeds to the next tone, the next phrase. You may be overcome
with a feeling, an emotion that has not visited you for a long time.
Something deep inside may come into fresh awareness with new understanding
and acceptance. When the concert is over and the applause breaks the
magic spell, even as it expresses appreciation for the moments of
elation or catharsis, it would seem that all you are left with is the
memory
of the music, however accurately or inaccurately you recall it. A melody
may linger, and you may whistle or hum it as you leave the theater
or hall. The brilliance of a soloist may go with you and amaze you
each time you recall it. The style of the music may put you in a mood
that
influences
your decisions for some time to come. If you are trained and experienced,
you may catch a note or an entrance that seems askew, and you cannot
wait to get home and check your score or recording, but you cannot
go back and hear the concert again, for it is over, gone, buried in
the mystical and magical synapses of your brain. If you have never
heard the piece before, you may put a recording of it on your wish
list for your next birthday or holiday.
As I sit here at my computer some hours after this concert and ponder
these things, what I am most left with is a sense that I have been
somewhere, somewhere that seems somehow familiar though I have
never been there. The music of Spain of the early 20th century captivated
me with its hot-blooded passion, its sad, brokenhearted longing, and
its exultant bravura.
The concert began with Manuel de Falla’s Seven Popular Spanish
Songs (arr. Halffter). Mezzo-soprano Greene, an artist familiar
to Triangle audiences, sang these varied pieces in a winsome
and endearing
performance. Her voice was relaxed, velvety smooth, and exciting at
times, as fit the songs. The orchestra played with precision. The rhythms
were crisp and stirring. The overall sound of the voice and the orchestra
together was controlled, balanced, and convincing.
Robert Belinic was the soloist in Joaquin Rodrigo’s most widely
known and loved piece, Concierto de Aranjuez, for guitar and
orchestra. He is the first performer engaged as a result of the
Charles & Shirley
Weiss Endowment for Young Soloists. Born in Zagreb, Croatia, he showed
music
talent
at an early age and settled on studying the guitar at age 11. Winning
significant recognition in guitar competitions, he has appeared
with several different orchestras across the United States and in recitals
at the Kennedy Center and at the Isabella Seward Gardner Museum in
Boston. His performance was deeply moving. One could sense the intensity
of his involvement in the music and his mastery of the skills demanded
by this piece. It was especially in the middle slow movement that
I
found myself transported and captivated. For me, the orchestra and
the soloist provided something very special.
After the intermission, Muti returned with mezzo Green and actress
Kraus for a performance of the 1915 version of Falla’s El
amor brujo (Love the Magician). It is the tale of a widow
who is cursed
by the
ghost of her first husband; he has died, but he reappears every time
she finds a new love interest. Cast for orchestra, soloist, spoken
voices,
and dancers, the only lack was the dancers. Maestro Muti read the minimal
male role to the delight of the audience. Recently arriving in the
Triangle, Kraus has appeared in theatre in Rochester and in other theatres
in New York and New Jersey. She appeared in Burning Coal Theatre’s
recent production of The
Prisoner’s Dilemma.
The spoken roles and the singing too, for that matter, were in Spanish,
and for one whose Spanish vocabulary totals maybe fifty words (ten
of them numbers!), I didn’t understand many of the words. However,
Kraus’s skills and delivery implied clearly what was happening,
and Green’s singing (actually the same persona who was speaking)
added plenty of meaning. There was no doubt about the message of the
familiar "Ritual Fire Dance." The orchestra told the story
vividly, and one could almost see the flames in Falla’s inspired
writing. Special mention must be made of the solo work by members of
the orchestra, which was notably stunning and captivating.
I told my companion as we were leaving the Carolina Theatre, “I
can’t remember a concert I enjoyed more than this one.” She
responded, “You say that after every concert.” Well,
yes, maybe so. That is part of the magic of music and memory and a
very good reason to support our extraordinary local artists. My favorite
composer is always the one I am listening to now. The best concert
is always the one I am attending today. I wish I could go to all of
them!
