By Lyn Bronson

[This review will appear in the Salinas Californian on Monday, June 1, 2009]

The first thing we noticed when Maestro Max Bragado-Darman walked out on stage at Sherwood Hall last night was that his left arm was in a sling – actually, a nicely color-coordinated sling (Armani, no doubt) that looked quite dashing with his formal concert tails. Inquiries revealed that the Maestro had scheduled shoulder surgery for both arms but decided, wisely it turns out, to have the left shoulder done first and the other one during the summer when concert activities are lighter. Since almost everything that we hear in a symphony concert is accomplished during rehearsals, the baton technique is principally for getting the musicians started together and for occasional instrumental cues. Therefore, not surprisingly, Max performed last night without a hitch, even with the disabled left arm unable to add to the cueing but still managing to turn the pages of the score.

The occasion was the final concert of the Monterey County Symphony’s present season. It turned out to be a big impressive event with the symphony musicians sharing the stage with members of the Monterey Symphony Chorus. The brief first half of the concert (barely thirty minutes) featured two interesting works for chorus and orchestra, Fauré’s Pavanne, Op. 50, and Ralph Vaughan-Williams’ “Serenade to Music.” Both pieces shared a sensuous reveling in silky smooth sound. The Fauré Pavanne was tantalizingly brief, but its barely five-minute duration contained some of loveliest melodies Fauré ever wrote. The orchestra and chorus were even more impressive in the Vaughan-Williams’ work that followed. The text, from Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice” in this setting received a lovely performance from the chorus.

After intermission we heard the always popular “The Planets” by Gustav Holst, and it was a knockout! Trumpets and horns almost blasted us out of our seats in the opening moments of “Mars, The Bringer of War” and the ending  with its mysterious mood was heightened by the far off sound of a hidden choir of women’s voices. The audience rose to its feet in a spontaneous and wildly enthusiastic ovation.

Speaking of the audience, its most colorful members on this occasion were six young Marines (one of them a woman Lance Corporal) in splendid dress uniforms. Students in the 18-month Arabic course at the Defense Language Institute, they came all the way from Monterey on a Saturday evening to hear a symphony concert. Isn’t it pleasing to report that not all young people today are obsessed with Rock, Hip-Hop and Rap?

End