PHOENIX RISING FROM THE ASHES
                   And a Pianist Surviving Oxygen 
                                                           By D. Rane Danubian
        artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area music and dance 
                                                                 Week of May 11-18, 2010
                                                                  Vol. 12, No. 100
          No, not the city Phoenix, nor Arizona, but rather New Mexico, where an effective, evocative  orchestra has battled to a rebirth and may well have turned a corner.
            Like many city orchestras, the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra  has had tough sledding financially. Two of its concert sets were washed out in the fall, partly with an impasse over union  negotiations. There have since been the abrupt departure of the executive director, the signing of new union contract, and the resumption of regular activities---with debts still hanging overhead like the sword of Damocles.
            This is a microcosm of a national concern and, most likely, future crisis. The recent study by the League of American Orchestras noted the number of individuals going to such concerts nationally is flagging, while the average age of the audience is rising, rising, rising. Not a good sign.
            Either because of changing tastes or tight finances, the younger audience are not stepping up as before.
            It happens that Albuquerque, the state’s biggest city, has an unusually good orchestra, marked by excellent woodwinds. Its conductor, the Puerto Rican Guillermo Figueroa, knows his metier and delivers impressively. He hit an upbeat note in the concert of May 2 where he finished with Nielsen's highly symbolic  "Inextinguishable" Symphony (No. 4, 1916) Written in the depths of World War One, the work struck a hopeful note of future florescence, with a title more aptly translated from Danish as "vital to life." It was, per Nielsen, to "express...the spirit of life."
             In his unusual introductory talk, Figueroa noted a parallel of emergence from crisis, and hope for a vibrant, peaceful future. In this he appeared to be backed by an enthusiastic ensemble that one sense truly LOVED music-making, and not merely playing another gig.
            The work resonated eloquently through the hall, winning warm plaudits from an audience unfamiliar with the piece. The "Poco Adagio" movement with unharmonized themes carried the intensity later associated with Bartok's music. The war/crisis could hardly be overlooked in the Fourth, not when a pair of timpani players unleash a closely coordinated tattoo of violent beats (perhaps inspired by Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 finale), like machine guns lining the front lines. After that shocking outburst, the finale reverts to an upbeat suggestion of triumph over adversity.
            Figueroa conducted it confidently, incisively. The orchestra was aptly responsive, showing off a top-flight woodwind section.                  The hall was essentially sold out, probably more for the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 with Joyce Yang, 24, who had won the silver at the Van Cliburn Competition five years ago. She is of the "furrow-the-brow" school of pianism, giving way to "rejoice in triumph" gestures at the finale. In any event, she is highly demonstrative, very adept, and, it turns out, highly sensitive. A patron’s noisy oxygen breathing device in the front rows disturbed her so much she took the maestro aside after the opening movement for a whispered conference, then resumed play.
             She performed it vigorously, poetically, soulfully, bringing out the passion inherent in the popular piece, right up to the finale romanticized by the derived pop song, "Full Moon and Empty Arms." The crowd was enthralled. 
                New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, Guillermo Figueroa music director, at two venues in Albuquerque, NM in classical season ending May 2. For info: (505) 881-8999, or go online.  

        ©D. Rane Danubian 2010
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        D. Rane Danubian has been covering the dance and modern-music scene in the San Francisco Bay Area with relish -- and a certain amount of salsa -- for years.
    These critiques appearing weekly (or sometimes semi-weekly, but never weakly) will focus on dance and new musical creativity in performance, with forays into books (by authors of the region), theater and recordings by local artists as well.
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