ROMANCING WITH BOLCOM: A PREMIERE 
                                              By Paul Hertelendy 
        artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area music and dance 
                                                                 Week of May 10-17, 2010
                                                                  Vol. 12, No. 97
           SAN RAFAEL, CA---A William Bolcom world premiere was the highlight of an all-American, all-Pulitzer program of composers given by the New Century Chamber Orchestra here May 9.
            The Bolcom “Romanza” was penned specifically for violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg,  the leader of the NCCO now completing her second season at the helm. Bolcom set himself a precarious task, with the all-string chamber orchestra offering limited contrast with the solo violinist.
            The piece was dramatic-effusive more than romantic, and more romantic than virtuosic. Bolcom sets off the orchestra by going in a different direction from the solo, providing a well-matched counterpoint that nonetheless used very different material. Bolcom’s pen is like a magician’s bag of tricks, with 1,001 ideas and styles defying easy categorization, ranging from popular to classical, from sweetly digestible to cerebral.
            The rhythmic nature of all but the slow movement suggested that this could served as a good score for dance; indeed the restless Salerno-Sonnenberg, who has Italian roots, seemed on the verge of breaking out in dance steps more than once when she wasn’t fidgeting or grimacing.
            She did master the volatile solo in addition to rehearsing the orchestra through their parts. Her personality made a strong musical statement, particularly in the wide-ranging cadenza-like segment of the “Funeral March” movement. An aphoristic “Cakewalk” section leads to an abrupt finale to the 21-minute piece.
            Bolcom, 71, a Michigander who had studied at both Mills College and Stanford University, took bows before the appreciative crowd here at the Jewish Community Center. 
            All three of the concert’s composers were former Pulitzer prize-winners. The best-known work was the Adagio for Strings to mark the centennial of Samuel Barber in one of the most soulful and professional performances you could ask for. The string orchestra of 14 women and only four men were as if breathing in unison. Under the direction of Ms. Nadja, this string ensemble has ascended into an elite musical group, worthy of recording. 
            Aaron Copland  was represented by two works: an excerpt from “Rodeo,” and the “Appalachian Spring” Suite for 13 instruments, which are nine strings plus a piano, flute, clarinet and bassoon. This lucid reduction (readily fitting the pit for the Martha Graham Dance Company) works with utmost clarity, though the final reprise of the Shaker hymn comes off anorexic compared to the full-orchestral version, which is much more familiar.   
            New Century Chamber Orchestra, various Bay Area venues, season finale May 9. For info: (415) 444-8000, or go online.

        ©Paul Hertelendy 2010
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           Paul Hertelendy 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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