Danbury News-Times
Dazzling flights of fancy
By Jan Stribula CONTRIBUTING WRITER
RIDGEFIELD --As one of the "Four Fabulous Finalists"
auditioning to become Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra's new
music director, Jose-Luis Novo led the group in a brilliant
display on Saturday night.
And if he gets the job, the RSO gets a stand-up comedian as
a bonus.
There were a lot of tales being told at the concert
Saturday, but the real stories were in the magic of the
music.
Novo's program featured two works composed by masters of
orchestration, and the live performance RSO gave sounded
better than any of their recordings on any stereo system
you'll ever hear. Both pieces were written in a very
interesting period, when music was transitioning from
traditional to modern, combining elements of old and new,
familiar and strange. They still sound remarkably innovative
a century or so later.
"Mother Goose Ballet Music" by Maurice Ravel (1875 "" 1937)
was a delightful flight of fancy based on fairy tales, using
simple melodies and motifs with incredible results. Novo and
the RSO blended the colors of the instruments, bringing a
magical atmosphere to the stories.
In the dream tableau "Conversation of Beauty and the Beast,"
clarinet and contrabassoon waltz, fall in love, and of
course a handsome prince emerges in the form of violins. The
harp always helps with these transformations, like when a
curtain is raised, ta-da! The transition when Sleeping
Beauty woke up was an absolutely special moment, ending in a
nice crescendo.
The symphonies of Gustav Mahler (1860 - 1911) don't seem to
be getting their fair share of air-play these days, perhaps
due to their length, or intensity. Novo's choice of
"Symphony No. 4 in G Major" was the perfect selection for
anyone not well versed in Mahler. I believe it's the first
symphony that features sleigh bells, and a soprano solo.
The opening movement was a kaleidoscopic shifting of short
themes, with controlled chaos in an intricate, elaborate,
yet playful world. Fluctuations of timing and complexities
of sound suddenly took you to unexpected places, with lots
of little nuances, accents, diminuendos, pizzicatos,
crescendos and what have you. Novo and the RSO took the trip
down the river of life with phenomenal fluidity.
Dancing with the devil was the order of the day in the 2nd
movement, with the concertmaster's solo violin tuned up a
whole tone, creating a disquieting menacing sound with a
strange pervasive edginess.
The beautiful 3rd movement contained the philosophical core
of the symphony. The whole movement was a series of
alternations of variations of two themes -- heaven and hell.
The heaven theme had a hypnotic rarified timelessness,
developed with angelic harmonies. Hell was cast in lamenting
darkness with wrenching outcries of despair.
Novo warned that anyone asleep in the audience would
certainly be woken up with the glorious opening of the gates
of heaven.
In the final movement, soprano Audrey Luna gave enthusiastic
expression to the heavenly life from a child's point of
view.
Novo's program, "Innovative Innocence," showed how
sophisticated musical language is, and how the world of
young people can be translated into dazzling sounds. He
succeeded in raising the level of musicianship of an already
sophisticated orchestra. Hopefully, we'll be treated to many
more concerts with Jose-Luis Novo.
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