Phoenix Orchestra, season 2
Phoenix Orchestra’s second season comes on the heels of a well-received and acclaimed first, in which the orchestra worked to further its goals of reshaping the classical music concert experience. Thursday’s concert at the South End’s Villa Victoria Center for the Arts gave a mixed audience a chance to experience a slightly different take on the mid-week evening, underpinned by a more casual and open attitude where the bar remained open and audience members were urged by the concert program to applaud what they liked as it happened, to talk with neighbors about what they were heard, and to actively respond to performers rather than observe from the aisles.
The first half of the concert was the more off-beat of the two, including an unusually orchestrated suite, the Suite française, by the prolific French composer, Francis Poulenc, for two oboes, two bassoons, two trumpets, three trombones, percussion and harpsichord (Phoenix modified the trombone cohort to a French horn, euphonium and one trombone). Jaunty at times, staid at others, the piece was a late concert addition meant to give some more balance to an otherwise string-heavy evening. Despite Poulenc’s mid-level renown and swollen oeuvre, the audience received the work well, if not somewhat timidly, as a warm up for the proceeding works. Following a quick set changeover from a wind ensemble to a concerto grosso set-up, the atmosphere shifted somewhat. Whether it was the spoken introduction by conductor Matt Szymanski or the prospect of the more familiar Vivaldi Four Seasons, the audience finally came into its own, feeling at ease enough to actively participate in the evening. That, or it could simply have been emotion overtaking restraint as Zenas Hsu jarred the audience with his virtuosic performance of Vivaldi as well as Astor Piazzola’s own take, The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires. Interleaved together in alternating movements from the two annual bouquets, this cosmopolitan mashup of Baroque and 20th century Latin gave Hsu the chance to show off an almost unbelievable versatility and mastery, extended techniques pulled of as effectively as silvery, pristine control. Simply put, it was just exciting to be there to see.
The second half of the concert’s Thomas Adès’s arrangement of Couperin’s Les barricades mystérieuses—following on a performance of the original harpsichord (Dylan Sauerwald’s beautiful interpretation)—eased things into Ravel’s colorful and exciting Tombeau de Couperin. The orchestra, finally at full number in the latter piece, showed no signs of intimidation, perhaps unsurprising for as talented a group as this, though simultaneously impressive given the relatively young age of the entire organization. If there was one criticism to make of the whole evening, it was that Tombeau felt a bit safe. The canonic performances of the work that audiences might be familiar with have an inherent roughness about them for movements like the Forlane and especially the Rigaudon, where things might not always be so pretty and even, and quick shifts in tempo keep the audience’s expectations slightly off-kilter. Nevertheless, the piece was a clear reminder of the astounding quantity and quality of young, high-level talent in Boston.
The conversations surrounding the death of classical music and orchestras often have something of a condescending air about them, as though the ivory tower might be only lowered and not altogether abandoned. But Phoenix’s approach to changing the experience has a distinctly different feeling to it, where there aren’t contrived attempts at attracting younger audiences with technology or “permission” to dress casually. Phoenix harkens, rather, to earlier practices where concerts were a chance for people to attend and enjoy without being asked to shift identity to some behaving set of ears. It was perhaps a subtle touch to have jazz playing as the audience filed in before this concert, subliminally encouraging attendees to follow smoky nightclub denizens’ lead and applaud a good solo or raucous tutti on the spot instead of after the piece is over. If it seems on the surface as though a program note that encourages someone to converse with neighbors might detract and distract from the experience, in practice, the opposite happened. When you are told to respond, you pay attention and respond, and thus you engage in an active and interested way. So, instead of getting less out of an evening like this, you leave having gotten significantly more.
Phoenix has two more “big” concerts on the docket for this season, as well as smaller engagements around the Boston area. Go to them.
