Virginia Symphony soloists distinguish themselves in “Four Seasons” program
January 24, 2017
For a near-capacity crowd Friday at the Ferguson Center for the Arts in Newport News, the Virginia Symphony’s “Four Seasons” concert was one happy surprise after another. It was a special treat to see and hear the seven soloists from within the orchestra performing in front of it.
One tends to think of “The Four Seasons” as a single work, but it’s actually a cycle of four distinct but related violin concerti. Instead of the “Seasons” concerti being played sequentially, the VSO intermingled them with other baroque works. So the evening began with the “Toccata and Ritornello,” a short, very dramatic prologue from Monteverdi’s “Orfeo” for three dazzling trumpets.
On VSO resident conductor Benjamin Rous’ website, one can read that he has led the orchestra from the harpsichord in baroque repertoire. But it’s a surprise to actually see him do it – conducting with his right hand while playing double harpsichord with his left, springing back from the keyboard. The second harpsichord and organ were played with subtlety by Paula Maust.
Vivaldi’s Concerto in C Major for Piccolo and Strings was played with great brio by soloist Rachel Ordaz. The outer movements require impossibly fast, bright, high pyrotechnics. At the end of the melodic slow movement, Ordaz leaned into the closing cadence’s dissonance and resolution – just lovely. At the end of the piece, people were standing to applaud.
Jonathan Richards is easy to spot; he’s the tallest violinist in the orchestra.
After intermission, principal trumpet David Vonderheide and Adam Gandolfo were the soloists for Vivaldi’s Concerto in C Major for Two Trumpets and Strings. The high, bright sound of their piccolo trumpets was perfect for the work’s challenging speed and dizzying leaps. The orchestra members were tapping their bows in well-deserved appreciation.
That theorbo and its companion baroque guitar were another surprise, only partly because they were front and center, being played by Paul Weaver with utter concentration. The very large theorbo has a very long neck that extends the bass range of the instrument. It was miked, probably because for all its giraffe-like size, it might not be heard properly in an orchestra of modern instruments.
And it was a surprise to see one double bass player pick up his instrument and move to the other side of the orchestra for Von Biber’s unusual “Battaglia (Battle).” The very modern-sounding work used dissonance and unusual instrumental techniques to evoke the sounds of battle. Players, including Rous, were banging on their instruments to imitate gunshots. In one hilarious section, instruments played different melodies in different keys for a cacophonous chorus like drunken soldiers in a bar. Associate concertmaster Yun Zhang had a gorgeous little solo. Drums sounds including players rapping on the strings with the wooden backs of their bows, and those separated basses were snapping their low strings like gunshots in a side-to-side volley. The work ended with a lament for fallen soldiers.
In the final Concerto for Violin in F Major – “Winter” – VSO concertmaster Vahn Armstrong exhibited crisp short notes, fluid runs and excellent dynamics that brought out the joy to be found in winter’s darkness.