Enrique Batiz and Alfonso Moreno have been making music together since before the dawn of the Loaf, before the Reagan years, or even the first coming of Pacman. Their distinguished collaboration has been particularly fertile ground for lovers of JoaquÌn Rodrigo’s music, his Concierto madrigal, his Fantasia para un gentilhombre, and the familiar Concierto de Aranjuez.
In fact, if you want the best bargain-priced intro to the music of Rodrigo, you need look no further than EMI’s 4-CD set, where Moreno plays on all the guitar concerti and Batiz conducts the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony and the Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico. Last week, you needed to look no further than Belk Theater as the Carolinas Concert Association presented Batiz, Moreno and an outfit called the State Symphony Orchestra of Mexico.
Little wonder, then, that Moreno surpassed any live version of the stirring Aranjuez that I have ever heard before — by some of the top names in guitardom. Fine Corinthian leather, indeed!
Frankly, I was braced for disappointment when I heard Batiz and the Mexicans romp through Bernstein’s “Candide Overture”: too loud, too fast, and despite its brassy brashness, curiously perfunctory. The big coursing tune at the conclusion? Shipwrecked.
Yet Batiz trimmed his forces for the Rodrigo, and the remaining bandoleros cooled their jets deferentially for Moreno, slower and quieter. One might also say reverentially when Moreno reached the fabled adagio. He lovingly took his time, meshing beautifully with the English horn and shining fresh light on the lowest-pitched variation on the theme.
Even the audience showed restraint, withholding their wild appreciation until after the ensuing allegro gentille. The fun was just beginning, for Batiz and the Orquesta maintained their top form through Carlos Chavez’ delightful Sinfonia India — a piece strangely devoid of Eastern flavor until I read that the Mexican composer had dedicated the work, all in one movement, to the native people of his country.
One thing I’ll say about the Orquesta after their pre-intermission performance of the Chavez and the Sibelius Symphony #2 that greeted our return. Their brass section matches up with any on the planet. Very satisfying concert — with some spicy salsa poured into the encores.
If the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra is truly looking for a musician who can truly advance the artistry of the ensemble, I’d advise them not to let Stefan Sanderling cool his heels too long. The latest candidate for musical director vacancy made quite an impression on me musically at last week’s Peter Serkin Plays Mozart, in part because his personal onstage electricity did not match the glory of the sound he coaxed from the players.
Yes, as a galvanizing personality who might bring Charlotte closer to its Symphony — and give us more reason to be proud of it — Sanderling remains a work-in-progress. But at age 43, he already had the musicians in top form throughout a strikingly varied program, and I suspect he still has room to grow as a leader and a musician.
Performing two Mozart pieces in his first guest appearance with CSO, Sanderling excelled where previous candidate William Eddins was merely lackluster. Only the last dab of polish was lacking in the “Overture to La clemenza di Tito.” Otherwise, the performance was quite on a par with the Mozart played under the baton of CSO’s current maestro, Christof Perick — in a piece CSO hadn’t played in nearly 20 years.
Of course, Peter Serkin is a known quantity, although he was soloing with Symphony for the first time. But how would Sanderling and the ensemble fare behind him, adding Stravinsky’s Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra to its repertoire? Rather smartly, with flutists Elizabeth Landon and Amy Orsinger Whitehead frolicking behind Serkin’s chaotic virtuosity in the opening presto and principal bassoonist Mary Beth Griglak laying down an intriguing baseline in the andante.
Serkin provided a slice of heavenly lyricism in the Concert Rondo, with Sanderling once again demonstrating his superiority in Mozart, this one a CSO premiere. Could it get any better? Judging by the enthused audience reaction after intermission, it did.
That’s not to overlook the fact that Mozart and Stravinsky kept significant numbers away from Belk Theater to begin with — or the noticeable exodus of discerning subscribers before Shostakovich’s Symphony #5. In a work that hasn’t been conducted by a sitting CSO musical director since 1968, Sanderling & Crew captured the sweep, the anger, the despair, the desolation, and the insane phantasmagoria of a work that stands at the pinnacle of Shosty’s genius.
Additional bows were richly deserved by principals Hollis Ulaky on oboe, Eugene Kavadlo on clarinet, Griglak and Landon again (and again), and concertmaster Calin Lupanu. Achingly tender, it was Frank Portone’s eloquence on French horn that will linger longest in my memory.
This article appears in Feb 13-19, 2008.
