Margie Rice and Glenn Fischthal Feb. 8

SPLASHY BAROQUE MUSIC IN UKIAH SYMPHONY'S SPACE CONCERT

The Ukiah Symphony, directed by Les Pfutzenreuter, delivered a spirited all-Baroque concert on a very wet Feb. 8 in Ukiah’s grandly renovated SPACE Theater. Headliner attraction was trumpeter Glenn Fischthal, recently retired after a 24-year run as principal trumpet of the San Francisco Symphony, who together with The Ukiah Symphony’s own principal Gary Miller offered a brilliant performance of Antonio Vivaldi’s C Major Concerto for Two Trumpets and Strings. The audience, though a bit sparse owing to the forbidding weather, responded with a roaring ovation to this flawlessly rendered mid-Baroque gem, programmed near the end of the concert and well worth the wait.

The concert’s first half was devoted to two of Bach’s celebrated Brandenburg Concertos, numbers 3 and 5. The conductor introduced the evening’s fare with focused and engaging remarks about Bach’s unparalleled stature in the Baroque literature, and then sailed into the G Major with verve. Impressive were the strings’ crisp articulation, clean tempi, and for the most part authentic Baroque cadential ornamentation. Less effective were their dynamics, which ranged from mezzo forte to fortissimo. Immediate evidence of the inappropriateness of this volume level to the baroque material at hand was the near-total inaudibility of Tom Aiken’s deft harpsichord continuo line throughout the third Brandenburg. The notable exception was the slow-movement passages where the orchestra holds a soft chord behind the harpsichord’s melismatic recitative.

This dynamic imbalance continued to impair the orchestra’s otherwise capable execution throughout the evening. To be sure, in the two trumpet pieces at the end soloists Messrs Fischthal and Miller proved quite capable of asserting their brassy personas versus the powerful strings. But the imbalance came most vexingly to the fore in the D Major Brandenburg, which features solo flute, violin, and harpsichord. Concertmaster Margie Rice, while handling her own part with impressive virtuosity and visual flair, simply overpowered flutist Rebecca Ayres throughout, most regrettably in their several poignant duet segments. Ms. Ayres, by contrast, played softly, cleanly, precisely, showcasing the understated vibrato and authentic ornamentation that these pieces fairly cry out for. Likewise exemplary was Mr. Aiken, who delivered the extended harpsichord cadenza in the first movement – purportedly the longest such segment in all the Bach literature – with brilliant passagework and sensitive, understated rubatos.

The second half of the concert commenced with Vivaldi’s Sinfonia No. 3 for Strings and Basso Continuo, a concerto grosso in G major. The piece features solo lines for violin, cello, and harpsichord. Here is where Ms. Rice really shone: her mastery of the Vivaldi 16th note, with which this piece fairly bristles, is stunning, especially when double-stops are part of the mix. Principal cellist Clovice Lewis and harpsichordist Aiken handled their own solo parts with similar aplomb.

Then came the evening’s piece de résistance, the aforementioned Vivaldi concerto for two trumpets and strings. While Mr. Fischthal’s piccolo-trumpet expertise lived up fully to what one would expect from such a renowned performer, special kudos must go to Mr. Miller, whose “picc” playing in the first movement so closely matched Mr. Fischthal’s that one was hard put to notice any difference as the two handed their fanfare-like flourishes back and forth. Attacks were uniformly precise, slur-staccato alternations were well coordinated and the intonation spot-on. Only in the demanding last movement could one discern a slight edge in Mr. Fischthal’s favor, noticeable in the wonderfully smooth connectedness of his arpeggiated passages. But here too, Mr. Miller did himself proud, missing nary a note and making the part sound easy, which it most assuredly is not. For you trumpet geeks, Mr. Fischthal was playing a Schilke Bb picc with an A leadpipe, Mr. Miller a Yamaha horn of similar design. Both instruments impressed with their brilliant, focused sound and impeccable intonation.

Mr. Fischthal and the orchestra rounded out the evening with Torelli’s Sonata for Trumpet and Strings, the Veronese master being the Baroque’s most prolific composer for trumpet. The first movement is a lyrical 3/4 adagio that gives way to the second movement’s lively fugue, where the orchestra impressed with its tight integration of the distinct fugal lines. In the third movement, sans trumpet (mercifully for the soloist, who appreciates the rest), the melody is passed back and forth by the concertmaster and the principal second violin, Holly Fagan. Ms. Fagan played with a subdued, light-footed, baroque-appropriate approach. Mr. Fischthal performed brilliantly throughout, once again earning a standing ovation for his flawless rendition of a virtuoso solo that only the very best trumpeters can ever hope to master.

I much enjoyed this concert. Its strong points were many, and the Symphony is to be congratulated on pulling off a demanding program with aplomb. I would have enjoyed it even more if Mr. Pfutzenreuter and Ms. Rice had paid more attention to approximating a proper baroque string orchestra volume level. Baroque strings are pitched lower and played with a slacker bow than their modern counterparts, and the effect is a more diaphanous, refined sound. It would be rare to expect a modern small-town orchestra to play those period instruments and learn the corresponding performance norms. But one may legitimately insist that the modern orchestra employ the uniformly lighter touch that baroque music requires vis-à-vis later styles. Bach is not Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi not Bruch. One must learn to bach off a bit, I’m tempted to say.