Press Release
Lovano blows fresh air into SPCO, Ordway
Posted on Sat, May. 07, 2005
Pioneer Press
By Rob Hubbard
Jazz and classical music have been bedfellows since shortly after the former hit the popular culture radar back in the 1920s. A fusion was fostered between the two genres by George Gershwin, among others, and they've been meeting at interesting intersections ever since, thanks to folks like Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus.
This weekend's St. Paul Chamber Orchestra concerts offer the opportunity to be present at one such meeting. English composer Mark-Anthony Turnage's "A Man Descending" is receiving its U.S. premiere on the Ordway stage, standing as the centerpiece of an intriguing experiment in programming that succeeds when the somewhat stuffy structures of the classical canon are set aside in favor of improvisational excitement.
You see, Turnage's piece is performed twice, once on each side of intermission. Renowned jazz saxophonist Joe Lovano is the soloist each time, but he takes radically different approaches in the two performances. First, he plays it (mostly) as Turnage has written it, and then improvises his way through it. On Friday night, the second version proved much more satisfying. While the first was fraught with all of the clashes that plague such stylistic syntheses - something like the aural equivalent of tennis shoes with a tuxedo - the second version let Lovano strut his stuff without fear of violating any proscribed parameters.
Turnage's piece is reminiscent of Stan Getz's collaborations with string quartets, but it allows a lot more leeway to the soloist through flurries of spontaneous blowing at either end of the work. And blow Lovano did, showing off his range with low, airy tones that set a contemplative mood before bringing a bebop flair to the second take. His performance inspired the question: Why not more jazz at the Ordway? The hall seems a good acoustical fit for the style.
The Turnage piece is largely inspired by Ralph Vaughan Williams' "The Lark Ascending," which opens this weekend's concerts with the SPCO's associate concertmaster, Ruggero Allifranchini, as soloist. It's a subtle, mesmerizing work that allows the violinist several cadenza-like unaccompanied passages. And Allifranchini's soft approach proved hypnotic and immaculately executed.
In fact, most of the concert had a meditative feel that wasn't broken until mezzo-soprano Mary Phillips emerged for a spirited and strongly sung interpretation of Manuel de Falla's music for the ballet, "El amor brujo (Love, the Magician)." And Peruvian conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya and the orchestra gave it a boisterous reading.
Who: The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra with conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya, saxophonist Joe Lovano and mezzo-soprano Mary Phillips
What: Works by Vaughan Williams, Mark-Anthony Turnage and Manuel de Falla
When: 8 p.m. today
Where: Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, 345 Washington St., St. Paul
Tickets: $35-$24; call 651-291-1144
Capsule: A jazz-classical fusion that works best when the jazz runs free.
Note: Lovano will also perform on a Chamber Music Society of Minnesota program at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Minnesota History Center, 345 Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul. Tickets are $25-$15; call 651-450-0527.
Rob Hubbard can be reached at rhubbard@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5247.