Symphony Review: SLSO New Year's Celebration sparkles with surprises

Norman Huynh, music director of the Bozeman (Montana) Symphony, has made a number of guest appearances with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) over the last five years. But New Year’s Eve was, as far as I know, his first time conducting the orchestra in a full evening program that didn’t involve accompanying a movie.

Norman Huynh
Photo courtesy of the SLSO

The New Year’s Eve Celebration is normally handled by either the music director or associate conductor. But with the latter position currently vacant and Music Director Stéphane Denève in Paris at the helm of the New Year’s Eve concert by Orchestre National de France, it’s no surprise that the baton was passed to someone who is no stranger to the SLSO.

Huynh proved to be an excellent choice. He and the musicians were clearly comfortable with each other, his musical taste was impeccable, and his personal charm was irresistible—an important qualification for a concert in which the conductor also doubles as master of ceremonies. Huynh’s podium patter was breezy, informative, and entertaining.

The program of the New Year’s Eve Celebration concert is always kept under wraps until show time, so it’s usually a pleasant surprise to see what the maestro has in store for us. The conductor invariably puts their own personal stamp on both the choice of material and the presentation. Huynh’s approach was impressively eclectic, ranging from Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975) to contemporary composer Kevin Puts (b.1972), to Sir Elton John (b. 1947).

The latter was “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” (from the 1973 album of the same name), one of five numbers by guest vocalist Jimmie Herrod, a soaring ultra-high tenor whose musical interests are apparently as diverse as Huynh’s. He gave us powerfully emotional renditions of Arthur Schwartz’s “Alone Together” (in a lush 1961 arrangement originally made for Judy Garland) and Jim Weatherly’s 1973 “Best Thing That’s Ever Happened to Me” (a hit for country artist Ray Price, R&B stars Gladys Knight and the Pips, and gospel singer Rev. James Cleveland). He also rocked the house with “Son of a Preacher Man” and a rousing “Dancing in the Street,” the Marvin Gaye classic that hit the No. 2 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 in a 1964 recording by Martha and the Vandellas.  In every New Year’s concert I’ve attended, the singers came from the classical and/or musical theatre worlds, so it was a welcome change of pace to see a performer who could inject some rock and soul into the mix.

Jimmie Herrod
Photo courtesy of the SLSO

But let’s get back to the classics that made up the bulk of the program. Huynh’s interpretation of Shostakovich’s 1954 “Festive Overture” got the evening off to a rousing start. Slapped together in three days to commemorate the 27th anniversary of the October Revolution, the overture is a cheerful brass and percussion potboiler in which Huynh nevertheless found room for some nuance.

Following the Shostakovich was the colorful “Virelai (after Guillaume de Machaut)” by Kevin Puts. Commissioned and first performed by the SLSO under Stéphane Denève back in 2019, this brief little gem takes “Dame, a vous sans retollir,” a modest tune by Guillaume de Machaut (c. 1300–1377), and dresses it up in contemporary harmonies and a kaleidoscopic garment of sound—the musical equivalent of sparklers and/or sparkline wine. It was also a great workout for the band (especially the percussion section) and was a perfect contrast to Shostakovich’s good-humored bombast.

After a selection from the score for “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” by the redoubtable John Williams (b. 1932) and the first pair of tunes by Herrod, the French connection was re-established with a luminous reading of “The Fairy Garden” (Le jardin féerique), the final movement of the “Mother Goose Suite” by Maurice Ravel (1875–1937. The radiant final bars felt a little more subdued than I would have liked, but the solos by Concertmaster David Halen and Principal Viola Beth Guterman Chu were heavenly.

The first half of the concert closed with a pair of classics by Johann Strauss II (1825–1889): “The Champagne Polka” (complete with cork pops) and a somewhat truncated “On the Beautiful Blue Danube.” The former was the basis for some sight gags, as a waiter brought on a bottle of champagne and orchestra members lined up for drinks. The latter had a nice Viennese lilt, but the omission of the serene introduction seemed an odd choice.

Fun fact: the percussion instrument used to deliver the cork pops is officially known as a “pop-gun effect” and is available at the musical instrument shop of your choice. You, too, can be the life of the party for around $250 (although for that kind of moolah you’d be better off with four or five bottles of good champagne).

After intermission and the obligatory “Meet Me in St. Louis” sing-along it was back to la belle France again for “The Man with Two Mistresses” (L'homme entre deux âges et ses deux maîtresses) from the ballet “The Model Animals” ballet by Francis Poulenc (1899–1963). Denève will conduct the complete work January 27 and 28, but this tasty little aural bon-bon was a pleasant teaser.

Two more songs by Jimmie Herrod and it was time for a piece that was new to me and, to judge by the response, a delight for the whole audience. It was the “Fantasia on Auld Land Syne” by British composer Ernest Tomlinson (1924–2015).  Although described by Huynh as a theme and variations, I think it’s more properly classified as a quodlibet—a form dating back to the 15th century, in which, to quote the august Britannica, “several well-known melodies are combined, either simultaneously or, less frequently, sequentially, for humorous effect.”

“Humorous effect” is putting it mildly in this case. In the course of around 20 minutes, the “Fantasia” hilariously weaves together around 129 different melodies, ranging from “La Cucaracha” to the finale from Dvorak’s Ninth, always with “Auld Lang Syne” in the background somewhere. It’s a bit like Peter Schickele’s “Eine Kleine Nichtmusik” but with twice as many tunes and a larger orchestra. I doubt that anyone present caught all 129 themes (I certainly didn’t), but based on the chortles, chuckles, and guffaws among the spectators, enough of us did to make it a hit.

In a 2002 interview for MusicWeb International, conductor Gavin Sutherland called the “Fantasia” “a work of contrapuntal genius,” and I’d have to agree. The sheer complexity produced by combination of so many different themes in so many different styles must make this piece a beast to play and conduct, but Huynh and the SLSO musicians were more than up to the task. Comedy only works properly when it’s done with this kind of skill and precision. The “Fantasia on Auld Lang Syne” was, for me, the biggest surprise and biggest hit of the evening.

Next from the SLSO: Conductor Laureate Leonard Slatkin leads the orchestra and violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins in music by George Antheil, Jeff Beal, Duke Ellington, and George Gershwin on Friday, January 12, at 10:30 am. On Saturday, January 13, at 7:30 pm Principal Clarinet Scott Andrews joins Slatkin and the band for an evening of Milhaud, Stravinsky, Weill, and Gershwin. Both concerts take place at the Touhill Center on the University of Missouri St. Louis campus. They’re part of a three-concert series concentrating on the influence of jazz on classical music. For more information, check out my interview with Leonard Slatkin at Chuck's Culture Channel.

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

Review: The Gershwin shuffle

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

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The movie nights that are part of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra's "Powell Hall Live" series have always been a pleasure for me, back since they were largely limited to silent films like "City Lights" and "Phantom of the Opera." There's nothing quite like hearing a good film score performed live by the orchestra while the movie unfolds on the very big screen at Powell Hall.

I saw the final film of the season was last Saturday, (May 13, 2018) and it was a classic: the 1951 Oscar winner "An American in Paris," with the orchestra doing full justice to the music of George and Ira Gershwin.

The 17-minute "American in Paris Ballet" that concludes the movie (and effectively sweeps away what's left of the sketchy story line) is justifiably famous, with inventive choreography by star Gene Kelly and gorgeous Technicolor sets that pay homage to a half-dozen noted early-20th century French painters.

The way Gershwin's original tone poem is re-orchestrated and re-arranged can be a bit disorienting if you know the original, though. Kudos are due the players and conductor Norman Huynh (Associate Conductor of the Oregon Symphony) for expertly threading the music needle in that score, even managing to stay in synch with Kelly's rapid-fire tap numbers.

There are other moments in the film that sound equally challenging for the live orchestra. There is, for instance, a sequence in which Oscar Levant (as struggling concert pianist Adam Cook) fantasizes about playing the fiery final Allegro Agitato movement from Gershwin's "Concerto in F" with an orchestra, audience, and conductor who all turn out to share his face.

The performance on the film is Levant's own (he was a legendary Gershwin interpreter) but in this concert version of the movie the live band plays the orchestral part. Normally there's some give and take between a conductor and a soloist. I'd say it's a bit more tricky when the soloist has been dead for over four decades, especially when Gershwin's music has, once again, been somewhat arbitrarily rearranged and reshuffled. It all sounded seamless when we saw it on Saturday night.

Conductor Norman Huynh

"An American in Paris" is, in any case, a movie that richly deserves its classic status, colorfully evoking the City of Light despite being filmed almost entirely on a Hollywood back lot. The slim story doesn't get in the way of the endless stream of great Gershwin music. Gene Kelly's character isn't nearly as tiresomely petulant as I remembered and his blitzkrieg charm remains irresistible, especially when paired with his bravura dancing. Co-star Leslie Caron wasn't much of an actress in her film debut here, but her dancing more than makes up for it.

French cabaret star Georges Guétary is a delight in his all-too-brief appearances as aging cabaret singer Henri Baurel. The role was originally intended for the more age-appropriate Maurice Chevalier, but Guétary still pulls it off nicely. Nina Foch is somewhat wasted as spoiled American heiress Milo Roberts, but it's a real pleasure to see footage of the legendary Oscar Levant at the keyboard.

The print, presumably based on the Warner Brothers 2012 digital restoration, was clear and sharp, making it easy to appreciate Vincente Minnelli's direction and the beautiful cinematography of Alfred Gilks and (in the ballet sequence) John Alton. The subtitles made it easy to follow the dialogue, even when (as in the Beaux Arts ball sequence that leads up to the ballet) the live orchestra drowns out that dialogue.

PGM Productions, the company that produced this in-concert version of the film, has done an impressive job melding the live orchestra with the filmed performances. Given that its founder, John Goberman, is the creator of the "Live from Lincoln Center" TV series, that's no surprise. Thanks to the SLSO for bringing it to us and for the orchestra for doing such a bang-up job of it.

"An American in Paris" was the last film event for the season, but Powell Hall Live events continue through June, including tribute concerts to Tom Petty and George Michael, along with appearances by acts as varied as Indigo Girls, Boyz II Men, and Heather Land. Those of you wanting to get your 60s mojo on (you know who you are) may want to check out the "Music of Pink Floyd" evening as well. The SLSO Youth Orchestra plays its last concert of the season on June 3rd, and regular concert season resumes in the fall.