Exhibitionism

Austin Symphony With the Eroica Trio

It seems almost redundant to mention in a review that the Austin Symphony under Maestro Peter Bay has developed into a true artistic force. But when sorry tales of declining audiences and orchestras fighting bankruptcy or closing down altogether come from across the country, it is heartening to note that the ASO appears to be on the continuous artistic ascendant — the musicians and the maestro have found their rhythm. Watching the good-natured Bay nudge and cajole and urge his attentive orchestra through nuanced and finely wrought musical fare is as rewarding as the resulting, brilliant music. And Maestro Bay is indeed a master at programming concerts, mixing the familiar with the less so, linking selections through theme or style or deft and intricate areas of intersection. This in no small way keeps audiences interested; and the fluidity, grace, and passion of the musicians at work kept the audience enraptured through this rhythm-inspired concert.

The evening began with Beethoven’s King Stephan Overture — composed to accompany a play about the fabled Hungarian hero. Four ominous and altogether Beethoven-like chords opened the work, but those chords aside, the overture is bright and even cheeky in its lightness of spirit. So much so that appreciative titters and giggles followed the near-dainty melodic shifts, unexpected and delightful contrasts to the recurring pulsing seriousness of the four chords. The work offered a brief study in tempo that continued throughout the evening: Rhythmic play and tempo variations were woven into most every selection.

Following the Beethoven was Kilar’s Orawa, one of the most impressive pieces of music that ASO has performed. Bay took pains to put the piece in context: Written in 1984 when the Polish composer was in his mid-50s, Orawa has some similarities in build and structure to works by Philip Glass or Steven Reich, but is closer to a modern Bolero than a minimalist composition. Starting with two violins and adding pairs more in turn in a haphazard manner (or so it appeared), Kilar’s work was full of surprises, with unexpected shifts in feeling and the occasional flourish of folk music. A work for strings only, Orawa was breathtaking when the entire stringed orchestra was sawing away on Kilar’s intense passages, inciting another kind of delightful giggle from the audience — the sort you get when you survive that first free fall on a roller-coaster ride and are heading for more twists and turns. Bay has said that the piece usually rouses audiences to their feet upon the last note’s conclusion, and so it did Friday night. It was a gutsy selection, performed with expert precision and well deserving of the cheers that followed.

After the cheeky creativity of the King Stephan Overture and the hypnotically brilliant crescendo of Orawa, one was tempted to wish for that same building intensity in the rest of the concert, but in retrospect, it was the variation of rhythm — a variety of tempos, intensities, and moods — that made this particular outing of the symphony such a success. When the Eroica Trio performed Kevin Kaska’s Triple Concerto, things slowed down, but the elegance and sophistication of the trio turned even the more somnambulistic passages into dreamy, haunting sounds. The explosive final movement brought the audience again to its feet. The trio then returned for a brief unaccompanied encore, a tango by Piazzolla, bringing the idea of rhythm into a new realm, as well as offering some insight into the trio’s incredible familiarity and comfort with one another onstage. The exquisite final violin note was more a long exhalation than mere music.

Concluding with the familiar Beethoven Symphony No. 7, the orchestra again proved itself solid, dramatic, and thoroughly pleasing, with Bay artfully helming his symphony through the tour de force of Beethoven’s shifts in rhythm and tempo, bringing a right close to a rhythmically charged night.

This article appears in October 17 • 2003.