Tasty late-period Mozart
By Jan Stribula CONTRIBUTING WRITER
RIDGEFIELD -- Guest Conductor James Sadewhite led the pared
down Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra with some prime pieces by
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 "" 1791) in the Playhouse
Series last Saturday night. It was simply scrumptious.
For a tasty tidbit of an appetizer, they opened with
"Serenade No. 6 in D Major (Serenada notturna), K. 239,"
with tympani and the two bass players separated, creating an
echo effect with the rest of the strings. The principals
formed their own string quartet and exchanged passages with
the rest of the orchestra in the third serenade, Rondo:
Allegretto "" Allegro. Unmistakable Mozart merriment
immediately permeated the Playhouse.
Mozart's longtime love of the clarinet was evident in
"Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622," which was to be his
last complete work. Basset clarinet soloist Igor Begelman
gave his own version of what Mozart may have had in mind,
with the extended range of the instrument. The longer
clarinet has extra notes at the bottom, allowing Begelman to
weave an ornate Baroque tapestry with silken sounds at the
top with more velvety tones inserted at the lower registers.
Begelman and the RSO sounded truly beautiful in the Adagio
movement, with one of those themes that just comes out and
grabs you by the heart. In an impressive display of
virtuosity, Begelman got a lot of mileage out of his reed,
and a lot of notes out of the basset clarinet.
After intermission, as a palette cleanser so to speak,
Sadewhite invited everyone to join in singing "Happy
Birthday," celebrating Ridgefield's 300th anniversary,
without cake or candles however.
They finished with the mighty
"Symphony No. 41 in C Major, K. 551 (Jupiter)," Mozart's
last symphony. Perhaps it was called Jupiter for the way it
ripples into action, like the God Jupiter casting bolts of
lightning. Who knows? The orchestra hit the ground running
in the Allegro vivace movement, quickly pulling out all the
stops, while showing restraint where needed. The shifts from
pianissimo to fortissimo certainly kept your attention. The
final movement was a contrapuntal tour de force, and the
orchestra handled the transitions between themes seamlessly,
building up to a spectacular finale.
Sadewhite led the RSO with steady hands, masterfully
presenting a splendid assortment of some of Mozart's best
loved works.
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