By Eileen Wingard
SAN DIEGO — Saxophones, which come in several sizes, were invented in 1846 by Adolph Sax. They are widely used in marching bands and pop music. Occasionally, they are also used in classical works, such as Ravel’s Bolero (soprano and tenor saxophones), his orchestration of Moussorsky’s Pictures At An Exhibition (alto saxophone), Bizet’s L’Arliessiene Suite (alto saxophone), and Kodaly’s Hary Janos Suite (alto saxophone).
Glazenov wrote a concerto for alto saxophone and Debussy wrote a Rhapsodie For Alto Saxophone and Orchestra. There are also concertos for saxophones by lesser-known composers. However, the concerto by the Japanese composer, Takashi Yoshimatsu, may be the first time the soprano saxophone is featured as soloist in such a role. His concerto, convincingly played by Steven Banks, was featured at the May 4 San Diego Symphony concert in Jacobs Music Center.
Yoshimatsu, a Japanese native, the official composer for Chandos Records, with six symphonies and a dozen concertos to his credit, was inspired by the double star in the constellation Cygnus and calls it that name, Albireo Mode. One star is a deep blue, the other a rich golden color, a metaphor for the two aspects Yoshimatsu found in the sound of the soprano saxophone, a silver colored instrument resembling an over-sized clarinet.
The first movement, Topaz was characterized with sustained, notes, evoking sublime tranquility, while Sapphire displayed the more fiery, blaring aspects of the instrument. There was an impressive cadenza in the second movement, displaying the full virtuosic range of the soprano saxophone.
The ovation for Banks’ expressive playing was such that he returned to the stage for an encore, Sarabande, by Johann Sebastian Bach. It confirmed that this timeless Baroque music was as profoundly beautiful played on an unconventional instrument as on the string instrument for which it was originally written.
Steven Banks was the first saxophonist to be awarded the Avery Fisher Career Grant and the First Prize at the Young Concert Artists International Auditions. He is on the faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he was the founder of its saxophone program. He continues to champion the saxophone, as a performer and composer, striving to bring it to the heart of the classical music world.
The Soprano Saxophone Concerto, Alberio Mode was bookended by works by two Czech composers. The program opened with energetic readings of Bedrich Smetana’s Overture and Three Dances from The Bartered Bride. The break-neck speeds taken by the conductor proved the prowess of our world-class orchestra.
Conductor of the May 4 concert, Ruth Reinhardt, is the newly appointed Music Director of the Rhode Island Philharmonic. She was born in Saarbrucken, Germany. She studied at the Zurich University of Arts before earning her master’s degree from the Juilliard School and serving as a Dudamel fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Ruth Reinhardt resides in Switzerland.
Her no-nonsense conducting style, precise and exact, brought forth a warm and sensitive interpretation of Dvorak’s Eighth Symphony. Rose Lombardo’s flute theme came forth with bird-like clarity. The Adagio movement included a nicely played violin solo by concertmaster Jeff Thayer. The third movement’s lilting waltz still rings in my ears with its shear loveliness. The finale, a theme and variations, opened with a trumpet fanfare boldly pronounced by principal trumpet, Christopher Smith.
It drew to a triumphant close, the kind of ending that brings audiences to their feet in joy and jubilation.
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Eileen Wingard, a retired violinist with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts.
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