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The Virginian-Pilot
January 15, 2006
Concert venue blends orchestra's sounds well
BY LEE TEPLY CORRESPONDENT
Another visit to the Ferguson Center for the Arts on Saturday evening for a Virginia Symphony Orchestra concert revealed more about the new hall. Not only does it blend the sounds of the full orchestra into beautiful harmony, it also allows small groups of instruments to interact with the intimacy of a chamber music salon.
For Bach’s six “Brandenburg Concertos,” each with a different combination of instruments, the room served extremely well.
Jaime Laredo was the guest conductor, as well as the soloist on both violin and viola. Having prepared the musicians well, Laredo played the music – more than two hours worth – with consistent energy and attention to detail. His long and varied career in chamber and orchestral music was clearly good preparation for this work.
As conductor, he chose brisk tempos for allegro movements, in which he got particularly clean playing from the whole group. Slow movements tended to drag if there were many people involved. Those with just three or four players moved along more comfortably.
Laredo played both of his instruments with a big, bold sound. In the mixed combinations that Bach uses, he was in balance when his colleagues played in groups. He did not always relax his approach for one-on-one playing.
In the program’s final work, the G-major concerto for violin and two flutes (No. 4), he rightfully dominated with amazingly fast scales and figuration.
While the orchestra changed for each of the concertos, one person was with Laredo on stage the whole time. Guest harpsichordist Peter Marshall provided the continuo background with strong rhythmic definition. As a featured soloist in the D-major concerto (No. 5), his extensive elaboration of harmonic patterns was often covered by the orchestra. Yet in the unusually long and demanding solo passages, his sure technique served him well as he built excitement with increasing speed.
The other soloists, with one exception, were core members of the symphony. Of these, flutist Debra Wendells Cross was the busiest, playing in three of the concertos. Her consistently clear tone served every situation well, as did her instincts as a chamber musician.
Oboist Sherie Lake Aguirre was more secure than guest trumpeter Neil Balm in the F-major concerto (No. 2). While each concerto had its own sonorities and interpretive highlights, the B-flat concerto (No. 6) stood out, partly because it used only seven instruments.
Solo violists Laredo and Beverly Kane Baker were thoroughly engaged in their quick back-and-forth dialogue. Both their enthusiasm and their deep tone were projected well from the Ferguson stage.
• Reach Lee Teply at lteply @odu.edu.
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The Virginia Symphony Orchestra with a complement of 79 professional musicians under the direction of Grammy-nominated Music Director JoAnn Falletta performs 140 concerts annually, reaching 200,000 concert goers every season in venues throughout the region. Our education and outreach programs reach 53,000 students and adult learners every year. The Virginia Symphony Orchestra is the cultural cornerstone of the performing arts in Hampton Roads.
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