BSO concert worth the wait Fans undaunted by latest snowstorm

ORONO – A concert originally scheduled for October is canceled by the arrival of a blizzard. When the concert is finally rescheduled, a worse blizzard occurs, but the concert goes on. This scenario was played out Saturday afternoon at the Maine Center for the Arts, as hundreds of intrepid fans of classical music ventured out on treacherously slippery roads in the midst of a winter storm to attend the rescheduled appearance of Emmanuel Plasson as guest conductor of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra.

Dressed not to impress, but for the bad weather, the sweater- and boot-clad audience nearly filled the hall and seemed excited about the opportunity to see the long-awaited concert. Concertmaster Lynn Brubaker was greeted by warm applause, joining a scaled-down 13-piece string ensemble.

Plasson then appeared along with soloists William Whitener and Laura Green for their performance of Aaron Copland’s “Quiet City.” This short piece, originally written in the 1930s, is the most spare of any of Copland’s music. While not quite minimalist, it does pare down the elements to the minimum required to evoke a sense of physical space, personal loneliness and spiritual yearning. The piece is exquisite in its simplicity. It may not have much meat on its bones, but it has a lovely bone structure.

Unfortunately, there is no place to hide any musical errors. There were only a few during Saturday’s performance, primarily at the very beginning of the piece, after which Whitener and Green confidently traded musical conversations between the lonely call of the trumpet and the lyrical passages of the English horn. One could imagine this music echoing through the deserted, man-made canyons of a city late at night. All too soon came the final sustained and diminishing note from the English horn in what was a fine performance of a deceptively simple piece.

Next was the Mozart clarinet concerto, and as Maestro Plasson returned to the stage he was accompanied by clarinetist Igor Begelman, who directed remarks to the audience. Begelman explained that Mozart originally wrote this concerto for an instrument with a greater and lower range than the modern clarinet, the basset horn. Begelman pointed out that his own instrument was indeed the one for which the concerto had been written, but that since the original score for the instrument had been lost, Begelman had to try to reconstruct the composer’s intentions. “So, this is my version of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto in A Major,” he said with a laugh. One of my past criticisms of the BSO has been a certain mushiness when performing works from the Baroque or early Classical periods. These works usually require an effortless rhythmic precision like a well-oiled machine. Emmanuel Plasson and the symphony came close to perfection Saturday.

The reason for this excellent performance may have been Plasson’s intimate, expressive style of conducting, or perhaps a double set of rehearsals for this rescheduled concert. A large factor must have been the performance of the soloist, Begelman, who from the first note held the audience spellbound.

Begelman filled all three movements with flawless virtuosity. His intonation was impeccable, his technique wonderful to hear. Balancing the liquid cascades of rapid arpeggios and soaring melodies was a distinctive voice, perhaps the spirit of the music or of the musician, which could actually be heard.

Also interesting to hear, in addition to the normal musical dialogue between orchestra and soloist, was a kind of dialogue between the upper and extra-low registers of the basset clarinet. Begelman later explained that the basset clarinet is about 6 inches longer with several additional keys, the most difficult being a key pressed by the thumb of the right hand which also supports the greater weight of the instrument.

After intermission, the full orchestra performed Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3, also called the “Scottish” Symphony. This work was inspired by the composer’s visit to the Highlands, and, although it has no particularly Scottish melodies within it, it has been said to evoke the rugged landscapes, misty air and strong nationalism of Scotland.

The first movement begins with delicate, sad themes from the strings. It moves through a stirring melody from the woodwinds. A somber passage changes and is left suspended as a few notes from the flute dissolve into silence. Throughout the piece hymnlike melodies and anthemic marches alternate with agitated and emotional passages.

Maestro Plasson managed to get a fairly large sound from the small orchestra, emphasizing and working with the dynamic range. Perhaps the range was not as large as it needed to be, however, since it seemed as though the level of intensity was limited. The orchestra had already reached its peak during the first movement. There seemed little room to further develop the emotion, and so the piece seemed somewhat static. It must be said that perhaps the Mendelssohn symphony could be perceived only the shadow of the stunning performance of the Mozart that preceded it.

It was an excellent concert, with Maestro Plasson evoking precision and a great deal of emotional texture from the ensembles. The high point was the playing of Igor Begelman, whose career will be worth watching. Perhaps the low point was the structure of the program itself, in which the Copland piece seemed lost, and in which the high point of the program came in the middle.

The next regular concert in the Bangor Symphony Orchestra Series will be March 18 at the Maine Center for the Arts and will feature works of Ralph Vaughan Williams, Ginastera and Sibelius.