The March 23 concert by the Monterey County Symphony served to remind us what we are losing as Clark Suttle approaches the end of his tenure as Music Director. Mr. Suttle arrived on the scene during a period of troubled strife among the symphony players. The situation evolved into a strike by the members, secession from the Monterey County Symphony Association, and finally the formation of a rival orchestra after a tense confrontation in a general meeting that divided the community into warring factions.
Mr. Suttle weathered this ugly situation with great courage and determination. In the process he built an entirely new and younger orchestra that over the past ten years has withstood the test of time and developed into an outstanding ensemble. Not too long ago he was featured as a double bass soloist in a concerto with the Monterey County Symphony which revealed instrumental accomplishments of the highest order.
In this latest concert, we had an opportunity to observe one more facet of Mr. Suttle's talents, for we heard the premiere of his Concerto for Strings. This work exhibits a strong sense of craftsmanship, a natural skill in writing for strings, and the courage to compose a work which doesn't play lip service to all the experimental fads that coexist today in the field of contemporary music. In other words we are talking about sincerity rather than pretentious posing. In his new work, Concerto for Strings, Mr. Suttle has written a work, which makes the orchestra sound very good indeed.
The striking beginning of the first movement suggested minimalism in its use of rhythmic and melodic motives repeated over and over again, but always with a sense of direction and development that prevented the movement from becoming static. The second movement quickly established a lovely hushed mood of mystery. Its most magical moment was when a haunting melody sang over a drone of sustained strings. The beautiful open spaced chord that closed the movement was simple and made a lovely effect. The more dissonant third movement showed once again how well Suttle writes for strings. One of the magic moments was a lovely melody by the violins and violas against pizzicato passages in the cellos. The contrasting second theme group was appropriately impassioned and lush. The return of the frenetic mood of the beginning of the movement developed into a satisfying climax. The movement ended calmly with a series of E Major chords which in their simplicity, after the preceding turmoil, was surprisingly effective.
The featured soloist of the evening was Dubravka Tomsic in yet again a return engagement. Ms. Tomsic gave us a powerful account of the Beethoven "Emperor" Concerto that had many exquisite moments of great beauty. While there were also a few moments of percussive overplaying that drew ugly sounds from the instrument, in balance, this was a strong, masterful performance.
After intermission, we heard that perennial favorite,
Marche slave in an appropriately bold and brassy performance that made a splendid effect. The concert ended with Respighi's "The Pines of Rome." Respighi's orchestration is always overwhelming in its virtuosity, and on this occasion Mr. Suttle ended the work with a fortissimo blast from the orchestra, augmented by an added brass choir heard antiphonally from the balcony. Somehow, despite the much-maligned acoustics of Sunset Center Theater, the whole hall resonated, and the resulting din was so intense that I observed a few patrons around me in pain and covering their ears.
The next concert by the Monterey County Symphony will take place on May 17-19 and feature pianist John O'Conor
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