A NEW CELLO CONCERTO, TO WRAP UP THE WHOLE WORLD 
                                              By Paul Hertelendy 
        artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area music and dance 
                                                                 Week of Jan. 24-31, 2009
                                                                  Vol. 11, No. 15
         OAKLAND, CA---Composer Nolan Gasser attempted an Everest climb musically: To  wrap the whole world into a single 44-minute cello concerto.
            His episodic world premiere “World Concerto” falls somewhere between Strauss’ “A Hero’s Life,” and the Russian picture-postcard opuses “Scheherazade” and “Pictures at an Exhibition.” But Gasser, 44, goes one step further, bringing in soloists playing instruments from China, India and the Arab world, striving to bind all these influences together in a United-Nations way.
            It’s a concept particularly apt for our unpredictable times of transition and discord, mingled with a new Obama-era optimism---even if the musical melding of East and West often seems like mixing oil with water.
            This is a tremendously ambitious, large-scale piece, as debuted by the Oakland East Bay Symphony Jan. 23. The cello is the protagonist, especially in the first movement of the “hero’s journey,” by turns whimsical and volatile, with rising themes culminating in dramatic (high-note) thumb positions. No one can do these better than Maya Beiser, the Israeli-born, US-trained supercellist whose performance list reads like a who’s-who of leading living composers. Beiser powered this like an emotion-driven star actress, with all the technical prowess you could ask for---even those growling bass notes accentuated by the less-than-desirable amplification used for all four soloists. With her flashing bow and flying shoulder-length hair, she was a tour de force both visually and aurally, of the vigorous Rostropovich mold, the kind that could teach a lot about drama in interpretation to some of the best-known cellists of our time.
            The amplification, an absolute necessity for the gentler sounds of traditional Asian instruments, was intrusive, requiring among other things a prolonged microphone-adjustment  break after the first movement. But then suddenly, the rest of Nasser’s world appeared: The erhu, a two-stringed Chinese violin recalling the melismatic singing of Chinese-opera sopranos; the sarangi, another vertical violin, from India; and the oud, a lute from the Arab world, soulfully rendered by Bassam Saba. Each got its time in the sun, mostly with rainbow-shaped phrases starting and ending on the tonic (home-base) tone.
            Inevitably, the concerto goes off in many directions, producing more punctuation than conviction. The rondo middle movement is the longest, as each soloist has his or her say. In the finale, they are all tossed together in a bouillabaisse, with solos for each, and the cello as the dominant unifier, culminating in a joyous dance.
            This is a colorful work on a vast canvas, with occasional success, and enough impact---at least, with Beiser in the leading role---to be performed in many venues around the world. Bay Area composer Gasser is himself an interesting creative artist, a late-bloomer with his hand on many pots as arranger, pianist and conductor. He earned his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 2001, but in musicology, not composition.
            The premiere was quite impressively led by Music Director Michael Morgan, the founding leader of the OEBS now celebrating its 20th anniversary. Morgan and the OEBS are particularly notable for their great commitment to school music programs, serving Oakland’s large minority community year in year out.           
            The rest of the program featured Brahms’ lush Symphony No. 3, as well as Aaron Copland’s multi-faceted dance work, “Appalachian Spring” (1944-45), expanded to full orchestra, with the addition of backup color instruments like harp and piano. This opus remains one of the signal achievements in American dance scores, created for Martha Graham, and full of nuance and many changes of mood and tempo. Assistant Conductor Bryan Nies led it and kept most of the musicians playing together in a 28-minute performance that was intermittently satisfying. 
            Edited review updated on Jan. 29.
            Oakland East Bay Symphony in the world premiere of Nolan Gasser’s cello concerto, and other works. Jan. 23, Paramount Theater, Oakland; Jan. 24, S.F. Conservatory of Music, S.F. For info: (510) 444-0801, or go online. www.oebs.org
          ©Paul Hertelendy 2009

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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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