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Press and News
Peninsula Symphony rises to new heights
By Keith Kreitman – CONTRIBUTOR
Tuesday, May 25, 2004 – AFTER the performance Friday of Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations, Op. 36 at the San Mateo Performing Arts Center, music director Mitchell Sardou Klein may justifiably claim that his Peninsula Symphony is the best non-professional orchestra in the Bay Area.
In recent years he has inspired this 54-year-old volunteer organization to rise to greater heights of professionalism, and with this concert he may have reached the apex.
The musical work itself definitely helped. The 14 variations in "Enigma," following the introduction of the theme, are characterizations of 13 of Elgar's friends, his wife, Caroline Alice, and a dog.
The variations are so cleverly and enchantingly orchestrated and range through so many nuances of musical expression and dynamic variations that they are a test of any orchestra's strengths. The results were awesome. Individuals, instrumental sections and ensemble all came through flawlessly.
Although I felt that the opening work, Claude Debussy's "Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun," was a bit too harsh for an expressionist piece and was short on the liquid qualities inherent in the genre, the orchestra roared back with one of the best performances of Hector Berlioz's "Roman Carnival" I've ever heard.
This performance also demonstrated how varying the sounds and results may be in the same orchestra when another conductor mounts the podium
Berlioz was a master of vibrant orchestration. Assistant conductor Geoffrey Gallegos stepped up and from the very first beat galvanized the orchestra to meet that challenge. He focused a precision and power I had never before detected in this orchestra. It was a rousing performance.
The featured soloist was Eric Nowlin, a Julliard music school violist. Nowlin won first prize at the 2003 Irving M. Klein International String Competition, directed by Klein in honor of his late, famed cellist and music teaching father.
The good news is that Nowlin, a handsome young Madison, Wisc., native, is a highly gifted violist with a confident stage presence and an extraordinarily rich and powerful tone. He has all the lyrical and interpretive sensitivity to make it as a concert soloist, if his technical skills match those qualities.
It was difficult to determine the latter from the two compositions he performed. Max Bruch's "Romanze for viola and orchestra, Op. 85" was a natural for him, giving him lots of room for his lyrical elegance. But Carl Maria von Weber's "Andante and Hungarian Rondo, Op. 35," as cute and popular as it is, was no test of versatility.
All in all, a memorable concert.
Keith Kreitman is a freelance writer. You can reach him by calling (650) 348-4327 or by e-mail at Rainykeith@aol.com.
The Music of Magic!
Come Hear What’s Up Our Sleeve!
Yes, you read that right! The Peninsula Symphony’s annual Family Concert on February 29th promises to be a Magical Event featuring Magician Kevin Madden and Theremin Player Robby Virus! Assistant Conductor Geoffrey Gallegos has created a program full of comic entertainment and interactive participation. Magic Tricks, Clownish Acts, and Visual Surprises have been choreographed by Magician, Kevin Madden, former Education Director of the Berkeley Symphony, to introduce children and their parents to the "Music of Magic". Selections include Williams’ Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Symphonic Suite, Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and Stravinsky’s The Firebird. The performance will run approximately 1-1/2 hours and is suggested for families with children ages 5-12.
The Firebird will feature San Franciscan Robby Virus playing a unique instrument called the Theremin. For those not familiar with the Theremin, this unusual and fascinating instrument is played without ever being touched! Two antennas protrude from the Theremin- one controlling pitch, and the other controlling volume. As a hand approaches the vertical antenna, the pitch gets high. Approaching the horizontal antenna makes the volume softer. Because there is no physical contact with the instrument, playing the Theremin requires precise skill and perfect pitch. Parents may recognize the Theremin from the Beach Boys’ epic "pocket symphony" off the 1966 hit album ?Good Vibrations?.
February 29th, 3 PM, Spangenberg Theatre, Gunn High School, 780 Arastradero Rd., Palo Alto. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students. Call 650-941-5291 or order on-line @ www.peninsulasymphony.org.
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