THE THUNDER OF EMERGING COMPOSERS
                    Concert at the Mission: Seismic Impact 
                                              By Paul Hertelendy 
        artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area music and dance 
                                                                 Week of Aug. 16-23, 2010
                                                                  Vol. 12, No. 3
          SAN JUAN BAUTISTA, CA---For the closing day of the Cabrillo Festival held annually at the historic 1792 mission church here, Music Director Marin (rhymes with darin’) Alsop once again selected contemporary orchestral works having a sacred flair, though devoid of texts or vocals. All were written in this millennium. With three of the four composers present for the festive finale, the Aug. 15 event again turned into a rousing, upbeat exodus for the most exciting music series all year in the greater Santa Cruz region.
            It’s no mean feat to pull off sell-out concerts in this isolated rural town demanding long commutes for the faithful. The functioning church’s tight Sunday schedule has the festival trying to shoehorn its way in, battling delays all along the way. Rehearsal and set-up times are almost nonexistent. In addition, the limited orchestral space around the sanctuary forces musicians into a sardine-like confinement where, even back in Row K, I didn’t feel myself totally immune from possible violin-bow pokes in the eye.
            But, I wouldn’t trade it for all the vineyards along the long mission trail. The event is rousing and visceral, the acoustics are extravagant (even if the strings are drowned out), and the excitement of music-making runs fortissimo.
            So the mission, the fest, and Alsop herself combine for a unique chemistry. And the enthusiastic crowds here are oblivious to widespread customs elsewhere of boycotting all modern music as if it were a contagious disease. Well, maybe it just is contagious, given the right place, spirit and commitment.
            The all-American festival emphasis this time gave space also to an international composer, the Uzbek-Australian Elena Kats-Chernin, 52, in “Heaven Is Closed” (US premiere). It’s boisterous and vigorous, like a speeding train almost careening off the tracks, relentless and almost irresistible in its forward motion. Yes, it is yet another minimalist piece, with the pulse provided by staccato trombones. There is also mild dissonance, and subtle bowing of cymbals. Clearly the influence of Adams and Glass has gone all the way around the world.
            “In Aeternam” (In Eternity) by New Englander Pierre Jalbert, 42, was a memorable crescendo piece. It begins with a sublime glow of bell-like sounds, building up to a highly agitated section seemingly resonant with anger, until it fades away once again. A dominant, sharply rhythmic five-note theme runs throughout. Jalbert’s sensitivity appeared to reflect sonorous trends in early Stravinsky, coming full circle after a century’s passage.
            The fury of the night was encapsulated in “Foils for Orchestra (Hommage à St. George)” by the indefatigable East Coast composer George Walker, who had composed it well up into his eighties. This is Walker’s Sturm und Drang, vacillating in and out of tonality, rambunctious and stormy throughout. It is a work of deep-seated conflict with its churning themes and emphatic accents.
            Given his huge output, it’s understandable that not every Philip Glass opus hits the mark. The 33-minute Glass Cello Concerto was a disappointment, with various effects loosely strung together, plus too many broken chords of major triads and scales to hold one’s interest.
            Starting with a long cadenza-like solo, cellist Wendy Sutter projected it effectively, right through to the explosive climax with its virtuoso flights into the highest reaches of the instrument.
            Conductor Alsop projected the concert with her lucid beat and unflappable aplomb, where many a lesser figure would long since have freaked out from the surprises delays and disruptions in a cramped shared facility. Clearly she must have decided long ago, that this is her mission.
            But let it be said, no forum is more effective at spotlighting modern music than Cabrillo, and none of the Cabrillo concerts are as pulse-quickening as that final day at Mission San Juan Bautista.
            Composers Kats-Chernin, Glass and Jalbert all attended and took bows before the enthusiasts.
            ADDENDA---Are composers compatible with their concerto soloists? Curiously enough, not necessarily when they are the same person. At the Aug. 14 concert, pianist Kevin Puts had a couple of memory lapses in playing his own Piano Concerto requiring restarts….Cabrillo has commissioned the Scottish composer James MacMillan to create a new work for Aug. 3, 2012, to mark the 50th anniversary of this motivated, never-say-die  festival. Previously, Cabrillo had played eight other MacMillan pieces.
            Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, Aug. 15 at Mission San Juan Bautista. For info: (831) 420-5260, 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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