Tanglewood, Lenox, MA
July 23, 2018
by Michael J. Moran
Except for a few veterans who may return for a second or
third season, the TMCO is a new orchestra every summer, when it comes together
for eight weeks. Advanced students at the start of their musical careers
present professional-level performances of music ranging from the standard
classical repertoire to rarely heard material to world premieres. This concert
featured one piece from each category.
Programmed as part of Tanglewood’s “Bernstein Centennial
Summer,” the seldom heard item which opened the evening was Leonard Bernstein’s
“choreographic essay” based on his 1946 ballet “Facsimile.” The scenario
depicts the attempts of a woman and two men to connect with each other, and the
sharply contrasting moods of the Coplandesque score were dramatically rendered
by the musicians under the dynamic leadership of Taiwanese conducting fellow Yu
An Chang.
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| Gemma New |
The first half of the concert closed with the world premiere
of a TMC commission, Michael Gandolfi’s stunning cantata, “In America.” Asked
to follow the model of Leonard Bernstein’s “Songfest” (on the Boston Symphony
Orchestra’s August 4 program), Gandolfi set a variety of American texts for six
vocal fellows and orchestra in a colorful, eclectic style. The whole ensemble
was animated in the hilarious “In America We Coin a Phrase,” while soprano
Elena Villalon was particularly affecting in Robert Kennedy’s “Even in Our
Sleep,” and bass-baritone William Socolof delivered a poignant “My Friends,” by
Cesar Chavez. New Zealand-born conducting fellow Gemma New led a riveting
account.
The program’s established masterpiece, which followed
intermission, was Aaron Copland’s Third Symphony, commissioned in 1944 for the
BSO by their conductor Serge Koussevitsky and completed in 1946. Despite
moments of deep solemnity, its four movements capture the spacious feeling of
optimism exuded by this “dean of American composers” in his prime, even incorporating
his famous “Fanfare for the Common Man” to open the finale. TMC conducting faculty
head Stefan Asbury inspired playing of technical finesse and passionate
conviction from his young musicians.
Two more upcoming TMCO concerts this summer look equally
enticing. Both in Ozawa Hall, they feature: music of Ruder, Ades, Barry, and
Lutoslawski, led by TMC conducting fellows and BSO “artistic partner” and
composer Thomas Ades (July 30); and music of Schreker, Haydn, and Lutoslawski,
led by fellows and BSO music director Andris Nelsons (August 13).
