Concert review 11/16/2007 - Joe Rice

Violinist Frank Almond returned to Traverse City for another weekend of music featuring himself as conductor/soloist and the strings of the Traverse Symphony Orchestra.

The audience in attendance two years ago loved the artistry he brought, and welcomed him enthusiastically again last Saturday at the City Opera House.  He follows a centuries-long tradition of violinists soloing and conducting at the same time.  Almond is concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and appears frequently as soloist, chamber musician and conductor worldwide.
His conducting/playing style works well and keeps the ensemble tightly together.  Since most works for soloist and orchestra usually begin with an introduction by the orchestra, Almond is able to face the ensemble and establish the tempo and dynamic level of the piece, then turns toward the audience.

After he begins to play, his conducting style shifts to occasional looks and nods toward the principal chair of the section getting the emphasis or making an entrance, all the while playing his solo impeccably.
It is a graceful dance of sorts, and the members of the orchestra watch him carefully.  There is no doubt about his tempo or what dynamic level he expects from the ensemble because he expresses it completely with his head, body, the violin and the bow.

The music best and most frequently chosen for a soloist/conductor combination is generally from the Baroque and Classical periods because it is clean and less complicated.  Here, the opening half of the program was devoted entirely to those early periods ? Bach, Vivaldi and Haydn.

The concert began with Johann Sebastian Bach’s Concerto No. 2 for Violin in A minor.  The opening movement chatters along vigorously with bows flying.  Almond’s tempo did not compromise, and the chamber-sized orchestra was up to the challenge.

Clearly, the strings of the TSO were enjoying these compositions.  A concert of this nature is exciting and beautiful because the source of every instrumental sound comes from the vibrating string (even the harpsichord, played by Dorothy Vogel), and when it’s the voices of violins, violas, cellos and basses all coming from that same source, there is unity, brilliance and warmth that is unmatched in music.

The second movement of the Bach, marked Andante, brought out the subtle artistic melancholy beauty of Almond’s playing and the accompaniment from the ensemble was magical.  The third movement, as a delightful contrast, dances along, in minor key, but quite joyfully nonetheless.  The soloist here displayed the depth of his technical skills while the orchestra was playing a fun and energetic accompaniment.

One of the favorite orchestral works by Antonio Vivaldi is his “The Four Seasons,” a collection of four concertos for solo violin with small string ensemble and harpsichord; the one most frequently heard is the fourth movement, “Winter.”  If listeners thought they were going to hear the fastest playing in the Bach, they were in for a big surprise.  The opening is on fire both in the ensemble and the solo line.

The second movement of the Vivaldi includes some very tasteful pizzicato playing from the ensemble, while the violin soloist plays a very introspective melody.  Finally, there’s a very interesting question/answer conversation between the soloist and ensemble that completes the little concerto.

To complete the first half, which featured the chamber-sized ensemble with Almond, he chose Franz Joseph Haydn’s “Concerto No. 1 for Violin in C Major.”  In the first movement, the violin solo enters with the theme using full-sounding double stops.  The second movement in the subdominant key of F major is a beautiful cantilena.  The soloist’s singing musicality was vividly displayed here.  The finale is full of fast runs, double stops and big changes in both volume and pitch, all handled with remarkable ease by Frank Almond.  This radiantly festive work was conceived to display the particular strength of Luigi Tomasini, who Haydn believed was the greatest violin virtuoso of the time.  Today’s violin virtuosi are not put off by the difficulty of such works.

For the remainder of the concert, Almond put his violin away and took to the podium to conduct the final two works.  The first was Sir Edward Elgar’s “Serenade for Strings in E minor,” written in 1892.  It’s a delicious work from one of the best of the late Romantic composers, and he had a special love and understanding of the sound of orchestral strings.  He loved to play with the tonal blend of the instruments, the harmonies possible around the turn into the 20th century and a more adventurous attitude toward traditional writing.

The viola section had a very special moment when they introduced the opening theme of the first movement.  The second movement is very expressive in a rather pensive, even mournful, manner with important statements made in the violins and cellos.  The final movement returns to the more lighthearted feeling expressed again by the violas.

The orchestra was expanded for the second half of the program from 22 to 36 members for a thicker textured style.  I was not familiar with this particular composition, but it now has become one I wish to have in my own collection ? quite beautiful.

Finally, conductor Frank Almond chose one of the all-time classic works for string orchestra, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Serenade for String in C Major.”  It is an extended work that is major in its structure.  Audiences from the very beginning fell in love with this work, with its joyous opening movement and the elegant waltz of the second movement, whose melody is universally familiar and well loved.  The Elegie third movement was heartfelt and moving with some wonderful and subtle counterpoint from low voices to high.  The closing movement begins in a rather dark mode, but soon is countered by happy and rhythmical Russian folk dances, which adjust the mood to joyous finality.  Both conductor and orchestra brought the experience to a delightful close with a flourish, and brought the audience to its feet.