Festival performers fly high during concerto matinee

By Janos Gereben
From The Register-Guard

IT SEEMED like a good idea back when jet airplanes were first put into service, shrinking the world: a concert format of something short (and, on a good day, maybe, something new) on top, a symphony at the end and a visiting "star attraction" for a concerto in the middle.

Not for the Oregon Bach Festival is such a rigid, mechanical formula. On Sunday, the festival orchestra played its annual, convention-defying concert, featuring some of its own "in-house stars" in a hearty program of nothing but concertos.

Conducted with loving (cuddling, and occasionally coddling) care by Jeffrey Kahane, a pianist-turned-conductor who regularly turns back into a spectacular concert pianist, the program stayed in a chronologically/stylistically narrow range, but it plumbed great musical riches.

(Would it be too jarring to add something contemporary, not as a formula thing, but to provide variety for the musicians and the audience?)

Guy Few played the heck out of the Haydn Concerto in E-flat Major. The thrillingly fearless Canadian trumpeter did justice to the full meaning of the word "virtuoso," which connotes not only a consummate master of technique, but also - and more importantly - one who dazzles with his artistry. There is a lot of razzle-dazzle in Few's playing, but the composer always gets his due.

As he did in the festival-opening B Minor Mass, on Sunday Few played the Haydn music brilliantly, music and brilliance integrated, inseparable.

Another B Minor Mass hero, Lorna McGhee, starred in Sunday's Mozart Concerto in G Major for Flute and Orchestra. With her affecting obbligati in the Bach still firmly in mind, the listener was once again amazed by McGhee's powerful projection. Even with Silva Concert Hall's "enhancement electronics" turned off (I am told), the flute sounded amplified in the huge hall.

This is where Kahane's kindness appeared excessive, especially in the outer movements; when McGhee is front and center, there is no need to hold down the orchestra.

Balances or relationships were not a concern in the adagio movement, however. Indeed, the mind was at rest completely during this pure musical experience. A special thanks to the audience for its silence, not just the lack of sound, but the palpable, hushed attention during the movement and throughout the concert. It was the best Sunday matinee concert audience I ever (not) heard!

Kahane did one his frequent feats of double duty in the Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3, conducting and playing the solo. The performance was seamless, whether Kahane was on his feet, conducting, or seated at the piano, tossing off complex phrases with deceptive ease.

Most impressive: the soloist's work in the cadenzas, his wonderful phrasing in the largo and the flawless, supportive sound from the woodwinds throughout the concerto.

Except for a rather thin sound from the first-violin section of only six players, the small-orchestra version worked very well.

Silva Hall's customary, rather automatic, standing ovation seemed appropriate for the stars of Sunday's concert, flying high even without jets.