RIDGEFIELD SYMPHONY
ORCHESTRA – Saturday, March 8, 2008
Reviewed by Courtenay Caublé
Maestro Anthony Newman was clearly in the spotlight at last
Saturday evening’s Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra concert at
the Ridgefield Playhouse, offering a half-hour recital of
Bach organ works before the concert, leading the orchestra
in the whole orchestral program, serving as soloist for
Handel's Organ Concerto No. 1 in G, Opus 4, and providing
lively and interesting comments about the music.
Mendelssohn's "Fingal's Cave" Overture, Handel's Royal
Fireworks Music, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 2 in D
completed the evening's musical fare.
Seated at a large three-manual
organ console dominating center stage and flanked by members
of the orchestra on either side, Mr. Newman gave an
impressive performance as soloist in the Handel concerto,
particularly in the technically brilliant second movement
Allegro and the third movement Adagio (for unaccompanied
organ), with the orchestra providing fine support
throughout.
No doubt enhanced by Maestro Newman's expertise in Baroque
performance practices, Handel's Royal Fireworks Music was
also nicely managed, with particularly fine work by the
brass section -- especially the trumpets, with their
high-register musical filigree. And Mr. Newman's
disappearance into the wings in the midst of the majestic
final movement to add the full-throated sound of the organ,
which had been moved offstage after the Handel concerto, to
the work's final regal measures elicited enthusiastic bravos
from the audience.
If any criticism could be offered for the rest of the
program, it might be that Mr. Newman's driving (sometimes
almost metronomic) beat occasionally hampered the sort of
flexible rubato that could have improved musical
expressiveness here and there. That was especially true in
the Beethoven symphony’s second movement, marked
"Larghetto," where Mr. Newman's chosen tempo -- more on the
order of an “Andante con moto," seemed a bit brisk for a
full expression of the movement's essentially languid
character. In spite of those minor quibbles, though, both
the Mendelssohn overture and the Beethoven symphony came
through nicely -- the sort of generally high-level
performance that reminds us once again of how extremely
fortunate we are to have an orchestra of this quality that
we can claim as our own.
With Christopher Confessore (the last of this year's four
competitors for the position of Music Director) at the helm
and pianist Andrew Armstrong as soloist for Beethoven's
Piano Concerto No. 3, the RSO's final subscription concert
for the season, set for Saturday, April 5, will also include
Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 and Michael Torke's An
Italian Straw Hat Suite.
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