Christopher Dragon conducts the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra
GREENSBORO, NC – The Greensboro Symphony Orchestra presented its second concert in the Masterworks Series Saturday night in the Tanger Center. It was the first time that the recently appointed music director Christopher Dragon took the podium for this classical series. But the real star of the show was Grammy Award-winning and MacArthur Fellow-recipient mandolinist, singer, songwriter, and composer Chris Thile (American, b. 1981). The first half of the program was given over to works by Franz Liszt (Germany, 1811-1866) and Johann Sebastian Bach (Germany, 1685-1750); the second half was a “new” composition by Thile: ATTENTION! A Narrative song cycle for extroverted mandolinist and orchestra (2023).
Mandolinist, Chris Thile with the GSO
Extroverted indeed. According to Thile’s own program notes regarding Attention!: “I love orchestras,” and “it’s a ridiculous story, but 100% true.” The story is a four-movement work that tells about an encounter he had when he was 24, trying to sell his band (Nickel Creek) to any business attending the National Association of Recording Merchandisers Convention in 2005.
Greensboro Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster, Marjorie Bagley
The first movement entitled “Attention,” includes mandolin playing, singing, some schtick, and a lot of orchestral backup. The second movement, “Lord Starbucks,” relates his experience as his manager tries to get him to sell his band to Lord Starbucks. In the third movement “The Rooftop,” he duels harmonica player John Hopper (here played on violin by GSO Concertmaster Marjorie Bagley), and he meets Carrie Fisher of Star Wars fame (and plays the Princess Leia theme). In the fourth movement “Carrie Freaking Fisher,” he approaches Fisher and states his admiration of her – he’s a big fan, and she stops him and feeds him a cube of bread.
This leads him to sing “Little Birdie,” which he sang (no orchestral accompaniment) before the story proper began 40 minutes earlier. Yes, this is a wild tale, but so was the music accompanying the text. From unbelievable virtuosity on the mandolin, to noodling “filler,” to the dueling (think banjoes) with Bagley, who was just as virtuosic. The full orchestra accompanied most of it, complete with an 11-voice choir from the Greensboro Master Chorale and special guest star Martha Bassett, sounding like a million bucks. Dragon’s conducting was perfectly synched with Thile, no mean feat!
The applause was overwhelming and after he returned, he asked the engaged audience to sing “Little Birdie” along with him, followed by an encore . . . audience members shouting out favorite Thile hits, until he chose “Over the Waterfall,” which led straight into a bit of Bach: the Giga from his Partita in D minor – unfortunately, not amplified. But what musicianship, what a showstopper, and what a stage presence.
Dragon spoke to the audience before the performance of the Double Violin Concerto in D minor, BWV 1043 (1730) by Bach – Bagley on violin and Thile on mandolin. Dragon was conversational, laid-back, leaning against the podium casually with legs crossed. He provided some background information about the music programmed for the evening, adding a personal touch.
Chris Thile, mandolin with Marjorie Bagley, violin and the GSO
Having heard Béla Fleck’s playing of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue this summer at the Eastern Music Festival, I was anxious to hear how this unusual combo would work. I’d say it was a winner. When two violins are playing, it is often hard to discern which violinist is playing which line; here that was no problem, as the two instruments are very distinct in timbre.
The work is in three-movements: fast-slow-fast. The outer movements were whirlwinds of trading melodic lines back and forth, sometimes Bagley taking the lead, other times Thile. I’m not sure I have ever heard the finale played so fast! But both played with incredible virtuosity and sensitivity to whoever had the main line and who was to play in the background. The middle movement is a gentle, expressive piece, and both soloists took full advantage of milking the lines for all they were worth. A harpsichord, played by Robert Rocco, was added to the small orchestra, sensitively and superbly conducted by Dragon. The soloists were amplified, but the orchestra was not, so the sound was not all it could have been; the audience could not really hear the harpsichord at all.
The evening opened with Liszt’s Les preludes (1854-55), a hyper-Romantic tone poem (music that tells a story), with themes representing love, sea storms, military strife, pastoral moments, and a grand triumphant conclusion. Dragon’s dynamic conducting gestures brought out these varied moods brilliantly.
Chris Thile applauds Marjorie Bagley with the GSO
This is a 15+ minute composition, chock-full of tunes, many of which return through the course of the work. It is also a showpiece for the sections of the orchestra; strings, winds, brass, and percussion all are provided several moments in the spotlight. The GSO dug into those passages with commitment and passion, or with gentle tenderness, as required by the music.
There was an unusually large audience for the concert, probably because of Thile’s presence. So, maybe offering a smorgasbord of styles from different genres (Baroque, Romantic, Pop) is a way to satisfy divergent tastes. It certainly seemed to work Saturday night!
