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ISO review: Symphony premieres innovative, disjointed 'Indiana Concerto'
One theme that quickly emerges during "The Jewish Americans," a PBS documentary exploring that ethnic group's heritage, is that creativity can blossom, even in the face of oppression.
The same concept holds together this weekend's Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra program. It features two pieces by the late American Indian composer Louis W. Ballard, and a suite by Finland's Jean Sibelius.
Before a sparse crowd Friday night at Hilbert Circle Theatre, the ISO gave its first performance of Ballard's "Incident at Wounded Knee," a deliberately dissonant 1974 suite commemorating the 1890 massacre of 300 American Indians in South Dakota, as well as a 1970s protest demanding government redress.
During "Procession," the opening movement depicting the massacre, ISO Music Director Mario Venzago soon established the ambiance of discordant chase music, full of rhythmic drive and bittersweet wailing from French horns and oboes. The second segment, "Prayer," offered the mournful cry of a solo cello. The third movement, "Blood and War," got very intense at the end.
The ISO premiered the innovative, if somewhat disjointed "Indiana Concerto," which the ISO commissioned from Ballard in 2005. Because he died before completing it, his colleague, Brent Michael Davids, wrote the second and third movements as a memorial. Although there are common threads between movements, the work as a whole does not have an especially unified voice.
The concerto doesn't showcase pianistic virtuosity so much as ethnic sounds. Ballard's first movement opens with a big, modal theme conveying the sense of Native American Indian melodies. The second movement, "Music Box Manitou," pits staccato melodic fragments from the piano against orchestral textures depicting Ballard's life. True to its name, "Stomp Dance for Louis," the percussive finale, has the feel of a tribal dance.
Italian pianist Emanuele Arciuli gave a highly committed performance of the concerto, much in sync with Venzago. As thoughtful as I found the work, there is some doubt whether its dissonance will attract the general public.
The program also offered a stirring, high-energy performance of Sibelius' "Lemminkainen Suite," telling the legend of a womanizing warrior who died and is revived. The composer was highly patriotic and involved in the struggle to keep his homeland free from Russia.
Friday's performance featured passionate cello section playing during the opening movement, turbulence in the low strings in the second movement and an English horn solo by Roger Roe as mesmerizing as a snake charmer during "The Swan of Tuonela."
This was a wonderful concert and I think it is a shame that more of our city art lovers did not enjoy this gift tonight. I was in awe of the artists that provided the audience with such a stirring performance to lift our spirits to new heights above the daily grind.
The Native American composers, Louis W. Ballard and Brent Michael Davids were a delight to learn from, and listen to, their talents and additions to our history of music in this land.
The ISO is providing this city with something that too many are missing. The talent of these performing artists is as enjoyable as watching the Colts win but so many of our citizens don't realize the joy of this great music right here under our noses.
Come on Indy, did you miss the performance a few weeks ago when Thomas Wilkins, a talented African American Conductor came to bless our city? Come and hear what the ISO has to offer before you miss another fabulous Symphony concert.
Karen Cummins, ACSW, LCSW
At the beginning of Saturday's concert, Maestro Venzago addressed the audience and observed that there were about 900 empty seats. He then praised those of us in attendance as the strong core of concert goers and he thanked us for coming as did many members of the orchestra by stomping their feet and tapping their bows.
What followed was another in an increasingly long string of brilliant musical performances that is rising testimony that the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra is indeed, one of the ten best symphony orchestras in America. As a close friend and colleague remarked, the ISO has gone from the "wasn't that last a nice note?" to the "if you think that note was good, just wait for the next one!" Under Maestro Venzago's direction, the orchestra is carving a legacy of sound heretofore unheard in this City.
For whatever reasons, there is a dearth of Native American composers and performers dotting the American Musical landscape. I was totally unfamiliar with Dr. Ballard's work, and while he is unlikely to ever be ranked among the greatest of American composers, his music was well-crafted and quite accessible. Because he passed away before fulfilling his ISO commission for a piano concerto, remaining work was left to Brent Michael Davids to wrap up the opening movement and then create two additional movements to complete the concerto.
In addressing a group of concertgoers in the ISO's weekly Words On Music forum, Davids acknowledged that he could not play piano, but studied intensely, the piano writings of Dr. Ballard and those of Franz Liszt (and I suspect some Copland too). The end result was a beautifully lyrical memoriam for the lengthy second movement, articulated so well by soloist Emanuele Arciuli. The movement really deserves a life of its own as the backbone of a one movement concerto, because thematically, it didn't seem to totally fit with the first and third movements.
After intermission, the ISO played the complete Leimenkannan Suite from Sibelius's Four Legends that was astonishing in its virtuosity. Roger Roe's English horn solo on the Swan of Tuonela was outstanding as was principal cellist, Arkady Orlovsky's accompanying solo work. Both received standing ovations at the performance's conclusion.
Next week, excellent American conductor Andrew Litton will be the guest maestro in an all-Russian program punctuated with Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony. Don't miss it!
Bob Orr