Julio Bragado-Young & Gillian Murphy
With Conductor Max Bragado-Darman at the helm, the Monterey Symphony launched its second concert of the 2011-2012 season last night in the Performing Arts Center at the Steinbeck Institute of Arts and Culture (most of us will forever continue to refer to it by its former name, “Sherwood Hall”). We heard on this occasion an unusual program with only two works performed. However, these two works assumed special significance since one included a ballet performance by four distinguished dancers from the American Ballet Theatre, and the other featured a new beginning of collaboration between the Monterey Symphony and Youth Music Monterey.
The concert opened with an entertaining piece of nostalgia, “Who Cares?” consisting of Hershy Kay’s delightful symphonic arrangements of ten Gershwin songs featuring four dancers and choreography by George Balanchine. The dancers, Paloma Herrera, Gillian Murphy, Maria Riccetto and Julio Bragado-Young (son of Max Bragado-Darman), gave us an entertaining mix of classical ballet and the more jazzy dancing we associate with Broadway Musicals (it sometimes conjured up images of Cyd Charisse and Gene Kelly). There were several solos and pas de deux that created some nice moments of magical nostalgia about the 1920s, the “Charleston” and the “flapper” era. The Monterey Symphony players also captured the ambiance of the “Jazz-Age” and there were some great piano solos by Brenda Vahur. Audience response to the Gershwin was wild and enthusiastic.
The other work on the program was Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.2, sometimes called “Little Russian,” and on this occasion the Monterey Symphony was joined by seventeen members of Youth Music Monterey’s Honors Orchestra. Although members of the Honors Orchestra have appeared previously in youth concerts presented by the Monterey Symphony, this was the first time that these young students have joined side by side with members of the Monterey Symphony in a regular subscription concert. The young musicians have had rehearsals and mentoring with both YMM Conductor Larry Granger and with Monterey Symphony Conductor Max Bragado-Darman. This concert, for most of the young players, was probably the first time they had played with a major orchestra and will undoubtedly be an experience they will never forget. And make no mistake about it, this was not like playing Eine Kleine Nachtmusik in a string ensemble, for the score of Tchaikovsky’s Second Symphony is a large challenging work demanding instrumental mastery and mature musicianship.
Well, we heard plenty of that on this occasion, and one of the most stirring moments was observing 17-year-old percussionist, Gabrielle Micheletti, giving us an unforgettable demonstration of timpani playing at its finest. The sight of her as one of two timpanists side by side on stage in perfect and thrilling synchronicity in the climatic movements of the Tchaikovsky’s last movement was something that I would like to go on YouTube and see over and over again.
There was a large audience in attendance last night, and it was a family audience with some very young children who were remarkably attentive and well behaved. I wondered how many of them were probably studying instruments privately and someday in the next few years might be joining the young professionals on stage. Well, when it happens, we will be there to hear them.
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