By Lyn Bronson
Three years ago pianist Sara Davis Buechner performed the Rachmaninoff Second Piano Concerto with the Santa Cruz Symphony. It was a brilliant and sensitive performance that breathed new life into this familiar warhorse. Well, yesterday afternoon she was back in the area to blow us away with an exciting and fresh performance of Gershwin’s Concerto in F with the Monterey Symphony and conductor Max Bragado-Darmen. In sixty years of attending concerts I had only previously heard recorded performances of this concerto, so to hear it on this occasion live was a great experience. Although on recordings engineers often close mike the piano so that it has a greater presence in the ensemble, in live performances with a large orchestra, there are times when the soloist can be almost overwhelmed by the orchestra. And so it was at times during this performance that the orchestra was so loud Ms. Buechner was difficult to hear.
