MUSIC REVIEW
Orchestra brings life to Bruckner's work
By Gregory Sheperd
Advertiser Music Critic
. . . Honolulu Symphony Orchestra • With Francois Rabbath, contrabass, world premiere of Frank Proto's "Nine Variations on Paganini"
Anyone who has ever thought of Anton Bruckner as a boring composer has never heard his Symphony No. 8 as interpreted by Samuel Wong and as executed by the Honolulu Symphony. Their gripping performance on Sunday surely qualifies as a milestone in the history of the orchestra.
Legendary double bass virtuoso Francois Rabbath made his performance a fun one with his improvisations.
• 7:30 p.m. today
• Blaisdell Concert Hall
• $55 — $15; 792-2000
More than 90 minutes long, the huge work makes incredible demands on the audience, not the least of which is undivided attention to every note. This is not one of those works where you just can kick back and allow your ears to luxuriate in snappy tunes. Bruckner's musical themes are spare and concise, but it's the way he weaves this material together that is so absorbing.
Wong took the portentous opening in such a way as to give grandeur to the tutti sections and hushed excitement to the softer passages. He also balanced the brass and strings so that the full beauty of Bruckner's orchestration could be heard to best effect.
The stirring second movement, although the most repetitive of the work, moved along with an internal propulsion on Sunday, while the quiet Adagio that followed seemed to hover in the air like shimmering heat vapors. Wong led the movement's progression from subdued meditation to apotheosis in as seamless a manner as could be imagined.
The finale, although about five minutes too long, grew organically out of the three movements that preceded it, and Bruckner's quotes from those movements give the entire work a sense of unity. Every musician who was on stage for that performance deserves a resounding "Bravo!"
Legendary double bass virtuoso Francois Rabbath preceded intermission with a wild ride on Frank Proto's "Nine Variants on Paganini." The double bass is thought of as a concerto instrument about as often as a Mack truck is thought of as a racing vehicle, but the musical depth of Proto's piece makes it far more than just a novelty. The puckish opening sets the "anything goes" tone for the 20-minute work, and Rabbath's improvisations were a big part of the fun.
Whether capering nimbly up and down the fingerboard or plucking triple-stopped pizzicatos, Rabbath brought a consummate technical skill to the piece that had the audience chuckling in amazement. He also quite obviously takes great joy in what he does, as he had a wide grin on his face for most of the performance. At its conclusion he graciously acknowledged everyone else involved. The program opened with a dynamic but never overpowering rendition of Wagner's "The Ride of the Valkyries."
Gregory Shepherd has been the Advertiser's classical music critic since 1987.
