Access Atlanta > Arts > Our Reviews > Archives > 2005 > November > 03 > Entry
Michael Morgan and Chris O’Riley with the ASO
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
CONCERT REVIEW
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Thursday in Symphony Hall. Program repeats Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. www.atlantasymphony.org.
“Irrational Exuberance” was Fed chairman Alan Greenspan’s catch phrase for the go-go 1990s, and it’s a new, 12-minute piece given its world premiere Thursday by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
Born in 1970, composer Robert Pound grew up in Columbus, Georgia, and earned a doctorate at New York’s Juilliard School, where he studied with Milton Babbitt, the fearsome, atonal modernist whose other students include Stephen Sondheim. Clearly, Babbitt’s students find a voice all their own.
Pound’s “Irrational Exuberance” is almost there. The new work is in five connected sections, each with a suitably Greenspanian marking.
The first, “Giddy, Reckless,” is tinkly and bright and playful, briefly evoking wind-up toy soldiers on the march. Its brisk, ceaseless flow draws the listener in. The second, “Whimsical, Dizzy,” is sweet, childlike and sounds at times like a slow-motion waltz that’s lost its way.
There’s a misty slow section, from which the French horns call out their lonely existence. The composer does not invest much emotion in the music, and here especially the material cried out for something personal, something to grab a hold of.
But “Irrational Exuberance” doesn’t give the listener many sonic landmarks. A few blurred passages aside — some of which might have been the fault of the performers — Pound is a skilled orchestrator, with an ear for color and atmosphere.
Although his compositional debts are to John Adams and Jean Sibelius, he’s more of a classicist than a romantic and he’s got a spirit all his own. In a khaki-colored suit, the composer accepted bear hugs from conductor Michael Morgan, who commissioned the piece, and the audience’s (mostly mild) applause.
Pound was followed by Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony. The orchestra was slow to respond to the hushed opening, and it was a bad omen.
Under Morgan, a regular Atlanta guest who is based in California, the ASO doesn’t make a powerful sound. The musicians appear to be playing all out, yet the ensemble emitted a very weak signal.
Their playing in the slow second movement likewise struggled to come together — not the notes or phrases, which were adequately dispatched, but the overall sense of meaning and logic. It was never clear why they were playing this symphony on this concert.
It wasn’t exactly boring, because Beethoven’s Fourth is too free-spirited, imaginative and ingeniously constructed to completely let go of our attention. But near the end of the adagio, as the first violins etch a delicate phrase against plunks from the second violins and violas, I wondered what time it was. I looked at my watch. It was 8:41.
The naturally buoyant final two movements kept everyone alert. Call it an off night for Morgan and the ASO.
The low-energy music making continued with Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G, enlivened only by Christopher O’Riley at the keyboard. Host of “From the Top,” a compulsively listenable public radio show devoted to young classical musicians, O’Riley’s latest projects involve his own transcriptions of songs by art-rockers Radiohead. Without a top-tier concert hall career, O’Riley is among the most famous American pianists.
If he didn’t seem to bring much to Ravel, well, it was on a par for the evening as a whole.
Morgan closed with Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, a pops concert staple. This is monumentally weird music that latches onto Gypsy dance melodies and pounds them into the ground. Great fun and the best showing of the night.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: Classical Music
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By Jim
November 4, 2005 9:48 AM | Link to this
I enjoyed the Hungarian Rhapsody. After listening to several performances in preparing for the concert, to say nothing of those hours with Bugs Bunny, I found the ASO innovative and technically brilliant. Lots of fun.
By George
November 4, 2005 12:22 PM | Link to this
I should be impressed, I guess, with Mr. Ruhe’s knowledge of music but the bottom line is that Thursday’s performance was much more enjoyable than one a few weeks ago with a flutist whose technical skills Mr. Ruhe raved about. Perhaps he should focus less on technique and more on what impact the music is having on the audience.