Rogue Valley Symphony Shines in Orchestra Showcase Concert – by Lee Greene

[http://bit.ly/1vKpnc7] Apparently, Maestro Majkut does not believe in putting off until tomorrow what he can do today. For this “Orchestra Showcase”, the Rogue Valley Symphony were performing the finest I have ever heard them, or any orchestra in these parts (which, yes, does include the world class Britt Festivals Classical Orchestra that performs in Jacksonville during the summers). In fact, this was the finest performance by an orchestra that I have heard since attending concerts by the major metropolitan orchestras in Los Angeles (Los Angeles Philharmonic), San Francisco (San Francisco Symphony) and New York (New York Philharmonic) during my peripatetic life. Mr. Majkut truly has raised the level of our local symphony several more notches, to where it is beginning to approximate the quality of a major American symphony orchestra. (If he can do THAT with these local musicians, one can only imagine what he could do, if and when he were at the helm of one of the major American or international orchestras. It seems inevitable now that sooner or later he is destined to move on and upward. So be sure to take advantage of any and every opportunity to enjoy his work and our Rogue Valley Symphony, while we still have the luxury of his services here.)

The first piece on this concert program was from Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, an opera by Richard Wagner, that occupies a unique place in Wagner’s oeuvre. It is the only mature Wagner opera to be based on an entirely original story, devised by Wagner himself, is also the only one of Wagner’s mature operas in which there are no supernatural or magical powers or events, and incorporates many of the operatic conventions that Wagner had railed against in his essays on the theory of opera: rhymed verse, arias, choruses, a quintet, and even a ballet. [Wikipedia, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, http://bit.ly/18oXj2T]. As for the Overture, which was performed by the RVS on this program, I cannot summarize it any better than written in the concert’s program notes by Dr. Mark Elliot Jacobs: “This mighty ten minutes of orchestration and compositional craft is one of the grandest achievements of a great composer.” And the performance of the piece by the RVS at these concerts rose to meet the challenge of Wagner’s grand achievement. If you weren’t at one of these “Orchestra Showcase” performances, it is well nigh impossible to fully grasp just how good the orchestra sounded. But here is a short recorded snippet from the Wagner, to give you a taste:

One Minute excerpt of Wagner’s “Overture to Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg” performed by the Rogue Valley Symphony, directed by Martin Majkut, during their Masterworks Series IV Concert, March 1, 2015 at Grants Pass Performing Arts Center, Grants Pass, OR.

And that, superlative as the performance was, just served as a prelude to what was to follow AFTER the brief intermission, Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4 in E-flat major (Romantic). Symphony No. 4 is a beautiful, impressive, symphonic masterpiece. While it was well received by audiences from the very beginning, at its debut in Vienna in 1881, with Hans Richter conducting, and has cemented its place thereafter as Bruckner’s most popular work, it is not played as often as other symphonic masterpieces in the classical repertoire, and probably has rarely, if ever, been performed to an audience in Southern Oregon. Bruckner is difficult. Difficult for orchestra musicians, who have to possess extraordinary stamina to endure a symphony that lasts well over an hour. Difficult for the conductor, who must not only make sense of a complicated musical architecture, mixing grand crescendos, lulls, plateaus and climaxes, but also come to grips with “the Bruckner Problem”: Bruckner continued to revise and change the symphony, before and after its 1881 debut, producing multiple and extensive revised versions of the work (i.e., the 1871 “original” version, the 1874 version, the 1878 version , the 1880 version, the 1881 version, the 1886 version, the 1887 version, the 1888 version, a Mahler reorchestration of the 1888 version, and more) , giving rise to endless controversies over the authenticity and authorial status of the various versions. Which is “the” final, approved Bruckner version of the symphony? And Bruckner’s music can be daunting to the listener too – exhausting, exhilarating, not something you can hum and relax to.

It takes real courage for a conductor to place Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4 on a concert program and supreme confidence in his orchestra, and in his audience. Maestro Majkut summoned all that to great success in these “Orchestra Showcase” performances. His perception of his orchestra musicians was correct: they were indeed capable of rendering a worthy performance of this complicated, challenging and lengthy work. He had them prepared and they played the piece to near perfection. Mr. Majkut addressed his approach to handling “the Bruckner problem” in his pre-concert comments, where he disclosed that he was primarily relying on the 1880 version of the piece. But having listened to various recordings of the work, and heard some differences that he felt made for a better performance (a cymbal clap here, a tympani roll there . . .), he had made alterations to the 1880 score and the music as actually played by RVS, where he felt it improved the music, saying, in the end music is an alive, dynamic experience and it is up to him as the conductor to ultimately determine what sounds best. Again, it takes a lot of courage and confidence to fiddle with the score of a symphonic masterpiece, but once again, Mr. Majkut proved correct – the result was a triumphant success. The audience, many of whom came in wondering why Mr. Majkut chose this uncommonly played piece to perform, rather than one of the more frequently performed chestnuts of the classical repertoire, responded enthusiastically to the performance of Symphony No. 4. Certainly, Mr. Majkut had made more than a few new fans for Anton Bruckner with this performance.

Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4 is a long, complex piece in four movements, each of which is remarkable and exceptional in itself. It is truly impossible to adequately represent the entire symphony in any brief excerpt. But I want readers to at least get a glimpse at how magnificent the Rogue Valley Symphony’s performance of the piece was, so here is a little snippet, to showcase how great it was. If you feel like you really want more, then buy a ticket and show up for the next concert – and keep coming, while we can still enjoy the formidable gift of Mr. Majkut’s talents leading this orchestra to new heights.

Last 1:30 minute excerpt of First Movement of Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4, performed by the Rogue Valley Symphony, directed by Martin Majkut, during their Masterworks Series IV Concert, March 1, 2015 at Grants Pass Performing Arts Center, Grants Pass, OR.

My hat is off to Mr. Majkut and to the musicians of the Rogue Valley Symphony. With this “Orchestra Showcase” concert, they have far exceeded my expectations for what any small market regional symphony orchestra was capable of. They are sounding like a full time professional orchestra in a major American or European city. Keep up the great work and know that your audience recognizes and appreciates your efforts.

Rogue Valley Symphony’s next concert, the final concert of the 2014-2015 season, is Masterworks Concert V, featuring guest artists, 3 Leg Torso, a Portland based ensemble, on April 17 (7:30 pm) in Ashland, April 18 (7:30 pm) in Medford and April 19 (3 pm) in Grants Pass. The program will include pieces by Stravinsky and Pulcinella. The 2015-2016 Rogue Valley Symphony season, as already mentioned, will feature a who’s who of top international concert performer guest soloists in a series of concerts “shaping up as a classical season for all time.” http://bit.ly/1vKpnc7] For ticket information, visit the Symphony’s website at www.rvsymphony.org or call the Symphony’s Box Office at 541-552-6398.

Featured image: Rogue Valley Symphony, directed by Martin Majkut, performing Wagner’s “Overture to Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg” during Masterworks Series IV Concert, March 1, 2015 at Grants Pass Performing Arts Center, Grants Pass, OR.