By Eileen Wingard in La Jolla, California
Two glorious sold-out concerts of the Mainly Mozart Festival featured revolutionary music, in keeping with the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution this year.
The Mozart selections for both back-to-back concerts were brief and unfamiliar, but the other selections of Mainly Mozart’s Saturday night, June 20 and Sunday matinee, June 21 concerts were well-known and filled with revolutionary fervor.
Aaron Copland’s ballet music, Appalachian Spring, performed as originally written in 1944 for a thirteen-piece pit orchestra, sounded as fresh and cutting-edge as ever, and Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony was performed with heroic zeal.
Martha Graham, who revolutionized dance by developing modern dance choreography, commissioned Aaron Copland to write music for a ballet set in mid-1800s in a small Pennsylvanian town.
The opening strains of Appalachian Spring evoked a dreamy landscape by the solo clarinet, echoed by the bassoon and flute. Titles of the ballet’s many episodes were projected, one at a time, on a screen above the orchestra, allowing the audience to follow the score. There was music for the bride, the husbandman, the revivalist and his followers, the Pioneer Woman. There was the harsh music of war as well as the interlude with its theme and variations of the Shaker tune, “Simple Gifts.” That theme returned in all its grandeur as the triumphal ending, “The Lord’s Day.”
Appalachian Spring was hailed as one of the great examples of Americana music and the relationship of Copland and Graham was compared to the relationship of Stravinsky and Diaghilev.
We could not have heard a more beautiful rendition of this work than that performed by pianist Anton Nel, flutist Jeffrey Khaner, (principal, Philadelphia Orchestra), clarinetist Boris Allakhverdyan (principal, Los Angeles Philharmonic), bassoonist Whitney Crockett (principal, Los Angeles Philharmonic), and the nine strings, led by Mainly Mozart’s concertmaster, violinist David Kim (Concertmaster, Philadelphia Orchestra). Given the smaller forces, conductor Michael Francis directed without a baton.
Following intermission, tenor John Russell, accompanied by the Mainly Mozart Orchestra, sang Bardengesang auf Gibraltar: O Calpe! Dir donnert’s am Fusse, written originally for voice and piano and arranged for orchestra by Ross Holcombe. Mozart used the text by poet Michael Denis, inspired by the British defense of Gibraltar during the Great Siege against France and Spain (1779-1783). Mozart wrote it at age 26, but it was a fragment, only three verses from a longer poem that he did not actually like.
Although the offering was under five minutes, it was enough to display Russell’s engaging, agile voice. He is the Director of Choral and Vocal Studies at Palomar College and the Music Director of the San Diego Master Chorale.
Beethoven’s Symphony #3, which concluded the program, was a revolutionary work in its own right. It is considered the first Romantic Symphony because of its emotional depth, its length and the breaking of Classical boundaries.
Originally dedicated to Napoleon, whom the composer thought embedded the ideals of the French Revolution, Beethoven tore up that dedication when Napoleon declared himself Emperor and the composer renamed it the Eroica (Heroic) Symphony.
Truly moving was the second movement “Funeral March” with its stoic sadness. This Mainly Mozart Orchestra, composed of principal players from all across the country, under the baton of Michael Francis, Music Director of the Mainly Mozart Orchestra and conductor of the Florida Symphony, is one of the
finest array of musicians assembled anywhere. Outstanding were
the oboe soloes played by Erin Hannigan, principal of the Dallas Symphony and one of only eight women in the orchestra.
Next day, Father’s Day, once again, the Baker-Baum Hall of the Conrad was filled to capacity.
The opening selection, Danzon No. 4 by Arturo Marquez, Mexican composer, had interesting rhythmic patterns and undulating melodies. Particularly impressive were the solos by saxophonist Damon Zick and trombonist Kyle Covington (principal, San Diego Symphony).
Slovenia-born guitar soloist Mak Grgic performed Joaquin Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez, made famous by our local Romero guitar family. The Allegro con spirito first movement could have benefited by more amplification of the solo instrument, but the second movement tore at our heartstrings with its tragic beauty.
Kevin Pearl, principal oboe of the Milwaukee Symphony, played the English horn solos. Conductor Francis, in his brief but instructive introductions, told of the tragedy that motivated this movement and how it reflected sadness, anger, then, acceptance. The last movement was a lively dance, which Grgic attacked with vigor, prompting a standing ovation and an encore, Chicho by Miroslav Tadic, Bosnian guitarist and composer.
This time, the Mozart offerings were three Contradances and the Turkish March from Piano Sonata in A Major, arranged by Prosper Pascal. The Contradances were played by the first stand of first violins, the first stand of second violins, the principal cellist and the principal bass, plus snare drum and piccolo (Rose Lombardo, principal flute, San Diego Symphony). The third Contradance added trumpets. They sounded like the fife and drum military tunes we associate with our Revolutionary War.
The final work on the program was Felix Mendelssohn’s Italian Symphony. The composer was only 12 years old when he met the great German philosopher, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who inspired him to travel. At age 20, the young musician began his explorations, first to Britain, then to Italy, where he was inspired to write this beautiful four-movement work.
Its opening sunny theme in the strings reflects the blue skies of that Mediterranean landscape. The second movement is a depiction of a religious procession he perhaps witnessed in Rome. The third movement, in ¾ meter is a lilting dance and the last movement, taken as fast and as humanly possible, was like a tarantella. Yes, it was marked Presto and it literally flew by as if the conductor were bitten by a tarentula. However, this orchestra managed to maintain accuracy and transparency throughout this joyous fling.
Three more concerts remain in the 2026 Mainly Mozart Festival: today; June 25 at the Conrad; and June 27 at the Epstein Shell.
Today’s concert will feature Mozart’s Piano Concerto #9.
The June 25 will feature Mozart’s Symphony #41 and the June 27 will open with an arrangement of Mozart’s Fantasia, K 608 for orchestra.
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Eileen Wingard, a retired violist with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts.