By Cathalena E. Burch
Arizona Daily Star
The American spirit was on full display at Tucson Music Hall Thursday night, exhibited in cinematic flourishes, jazzy rhythms and a moving patriotic sing-a-long.
The occasion for the red-white-and-blue fest was the Tucson Symphony Orchestra’s “American Romance” concert, the next to last classical concert in the orchestra’s 2009-10 season.
TSO Music Director George Hanson crafted a sure-win hit parade of American classics — Copland’s gorgeously melodic Suite from “Appalachian Spring”; Gershwin’s jazzy Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra; and Howard Hanson’s Symphony No. 2 “Romantic.”
Also on the program was the world-premiere of a new work that fit just as nicely. Composers 11’s “Celebration” is a musical chain letter launched by the TSO’s composer-in-residence, Dan Coleman, and passed along to 10 of his colleagues nationwide. Each added something to the other’s work, creating a beautiful and seamless four-minute work.
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“Celebration” had hints of the cinematic sweep that dominated Copland’s suite. It opened with strings that softly swelled into a blast of victorious pride punctuated by little brass bursts. Melodic woodwind passages were interspersed with percussive tension that gave way to flashes of energy and a short-lived heightened sense of drama from the strings.
The piece ends in a flurry of wonderful exuberance and triumph.
It would be nice to imagine that “Celebration” will have staying power alongside the Copland, which the orchestra played with wonderful energy and delightful melody.
The suite was inspired by the score Copland composed for Martha Graham’s “Appalachian Spring” ballet in 1944. The ballet won the Pulitzer Prize in 1945, and that fall Copland wasted no time in writing an orchestral suite from it.
Hanson brought out Copland’s wonderful melodic writing with a well-paced performance that never let the gestures become too grand or the energy get too unwieldy.
That sense of timing was a bit lost in the Gershwin concerto. In the first two movements — the first jazzy, the second soulfully bluesy — the orchestra and guest pianist Michael Sheppard played slightly enough off the other that Sheppard’s piano was buried beneath a blanket of soaring strings. The orchestra was just loud enough that you couldn’t hear the piano at all, and the only way you knew Sheppard was playing was by his body language — his 6-foot-1 frame bent over the keys, gliding and dancing along confidently with energy and grace.
The audience, though, didn’t seem to mind the miscues. After each movement, whether out of obligation or admiration for Sheppard’s technically impressive and sensitive playing, the audience of just under 1,200 applauded. And each time, the 33-year-old Baltimore pianist smiled warmly and giggled as if he had never received applause between movements before.
The TSO came back in the second half with a crisply energetic performance of Hanson’s Symphony No. 2, with particular attention paid to the striking woodwind and string writing.
Hanson closed “American Romance” with a wonderfully rich performance of “America the Beautiful.” After the orchestra had played the introduction, the conductor, dressed in his tails and bright white bow tie, turned his baton on the audience. They all stood up and sang along in a voice that echoed through the hall and tugged at the American spirit.
Contact reporter Cathalena E. Burch at cburch@azstarnet.com or 573-4642.
