Conductor Marc Taddei

EXULTANT VSO PLAYING OF RAVEL BALLET IN THE EMPRESS

In his spoken introduction to a Vallejo Symphony audience Feb. 26 conductor Marc Taddei pointed to the afternoon’s program with a wedding epigram: something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.

Well, the comment held true for the semi old (Grieg’s Piano Concerto) and the semi new (Julia Perry’s Short Piece for Orchestra) but really not for the concert’s highlight, Ravel’s complete Mother Goose ballet music from 1912. In 11 sections performed without pause, the richly hued masterpiece unfolded over just under one half an hour. Ravel is among the few composers (Chopin is another) that seems never to have written a mediocre piece, and this picturesque ballet score made full use of the Empress Theater’s direct and bright acoustics.

Fine solo playing was on display throughout – harpist Kerstin Allvin, Curtis Kidwell (oboe), Rebecca Tobin (clarinet). The music is a feast for winds and at times percussion, with notable playing of contrabassoonist Cynthia Hanson. Jessica Boelter’s laconic English horn playing in the seventh section (Fourth Tableau) was especially lovely. Mr. Taddei was never in a hurry to get anywhere, and his pacing and section balancing brought out luminous sonic contrasts. Concertmaster Joyce Lee played a captivating solo in the interlude just before the Sixth Tableau. In this final Tableau “Apotheosis The Fairy Garden” control of the slowly increasing orchestral volume was critical, and the conductor’s deft command generated the colorful orchestral power that was splendidly effective and memorable.

Closing the first half was Grieg’s Concerto from 1868, contemporary with the Brahms B Flat, Tchaikovsky’s B Flat and Rubinstein’s D Minor Concertos. Elizabeth Dorman was the congenial soloist in a performance that produced ample applause from the 350 in the hall but was in many ways routine and workmanlike. Ms. Dorman on this day lacked a formidable virtuoso technique, but playing from score she mastered the many octave passages that began at the outset with timpanist John Week’s crescendo kettledrum roll and the loud full orchestra entrance. Often the Orchestra covered Ms. Dorman’s piano line, but lovely effects came in horn/flute duos and Ms. Dorman’s flourishing arpeggio figures. In the Andante the charm of the music was palpable with muted strings and a bantamweight ending horn solo (Meredith Brown) over extended quiet trills in the piano.

In the Allegro Moderato Ms. Dorman rhapsodized the themes with grace and conviction but eschewed inner voices and rhythmic subtlety. In the middle of the movement Mr. Taddei emphasized the dramatic sforzandos in building a long climax that was released in a short forceful cadenza from the soloist. The rest of the performance was sonorous with the necessary single chord emphasis in the piano line and the full power of the VSO’s potent sound.

Ms. Dorman announced a dedication to a family member of an encore, a short and beguiling Bach transcription.

Opening the concert was Julia Perry’s Short Piece for Orchestra, a work from 1965 where the VSO’s playing underscored the movie music aspects of the nine minute score. There were ample flute and piccolo chirps and suspenseful horn, wind and harp solos, but ultimately the composition passed without much notice.

As usual for this excellent orchestra Mr. Taddei was the hero of the day, his consummate authority evident in each work. The season concludes in the Empress May 20 and 21 with music of Trey Makler, Ellington and Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto.