Respighi's Fountains of Rome & Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E Minor at the San Diego Symphony

Saturday night was symphony night for yours truly. I must admit to not having been attending many performances of the San Diego Symphony at Copley Hall in downtown much of late (I'm rather broke these days), but a program of Respighi's Le fontane di Roma (The Fountains of Rome), Mendelssohn-Barthody's violin concerto in E minor and 'Italian' symphony (No. 4 in A major) is worth squeezing the budget a bit more to accommodate.

Obviously a lot of the symphony-loving folks of San Diego thought so and flocked to the performance. Even the balcony was nearly filled out. As usual, Maestro Nuvi Mehta gave a very entertainingly enlightening pre-performance lecture 45 minutes before show time. I hadn't been all that aware of the history of the Mendelssohn family before (nor about how the Bartholdy was added on later) and I learned loads about the compositions I was very keen on hearing live for the first time. If you ever get interested enough to buy a ticket to the San Diego Symphony, really, come early and attend the lecture. It's worth the price of the ticket all by itself!

The evening started with Ottorino Respighi's 1916 orchestral description of 4 of Rome's most beloved fountains observed at various times of day. It is a masterpiece of impressionistic painting using each instruments of the orchestra as paint. Under the baton of Maestro Philip Mann, the San Diego Symphony lit the auditorium with such vivid colors that you could see every pastel shades of the rising sun (and its reflections on the water) on a misty morning by the Fountain of Valle Giulia. The brass section rang so convincingly in its pronouncement of morning from the Triton Fountain that I was surprised that the stone carvings on the pillars around the hall didn't spring into life and start chasing Triton's chariot around the hall before the whole thing sank into the bubbling water and the mood shifted to the grandeur of midday sun frolicking on the majestic Trevi Fountain. Closing softly with the sun colorfully setting on the fountain of the Villa Medici as its environs are settling down for their daily rest. The whole thing was so splendid to hear in a live hall that the first thing I did when I got home for the night was to order a CD of the piece on Amazon.com.... And I'm not known for liking impressionistic music!

Not from this performance, but here is a clip of what sort of music I was reveling in last night.

The star attraction of the night was, of course, Mendelssohn's famous E minor violin concerto. A perfect composition all great violin virtuosi use to prove their mantle on. It must also be a rather scary number to perform since most of the audience is so familiar with it and probably already have a favorite performance version stuck in their ears. Our soloist last night was Cory Cerovsek, a young French Canadian lad with fleet fingers and a lyrical voiced violin (he plays the 'Milanollo' a 1728 Stradivarius). I personally found his phrasing rather choppy and a bit static (not enough forward momentum)... and I thought he was too speedy during the fast sections that he went out of sync with the orchestra a bit in two spots (which didn't do anything in terms of interpreting the music. It was a very technically youthful performance but perhaps not thoughtful enough for aging me. I'm getting old and cranky!). He was very well received by the audience, however, and was successfully persuaded to grant us 2 solo encores.

After the intermission we were all in for another treat with Mendelssohn's symphony #4 in A major ("Italian"), an endlessly good-spirited musical tribute to Italy that seems to give a taste of many typical Italian scenes (rustic villages, probably a Sunday procession, the beautifully musical language and even closing with a rousing dance). Written during his 1830 visit to the boot-shaped peninsula, this is such a songlike work that made me wonder if the composer wasn't having a great time catching some of the greatest singers of the bel canto period at opera houses all over Italy. It really was too bad that he died so young (at 38) and didn't leave behind many operas. That man really made his violin sing!

So, it was a very good evening at the symphony for me. The San Diego Symphony and Maestro Mann were spotless (actually, the only real spot of the night was when somebody in the audience let his cell phone rang 4 times before shutting the thing off right in the middle of the 'Italian'. A crime worthy of strangulation by uncooked pasta for, imho).

Some upcoming performances by the San Diego Symphony at Copley Hall at 1245 7th Avenue, San Diego, CA 92101, Tel. (619)235-0804. Website: www.sandiegosymphony.com :
April 10, 11 - Winter Pops: viva Las Vegas (show tunes)
April 23 - Symphony Exposed: Elgar's symphony #1
April 25 - Jacobs' Masterwork: Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending, Krommer's concerto for two clarinets, Elgar's symphony #1

My other reviews of live classical music performances:
Dom Sébastian (OONY 2006), L'incoronazione di Poppea (LA Opera 2006, Le nozze di Figaro (SD Opera 2007), Maria Stuarda (SDO 2008), Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci (SDO 2008), Aida (SDO 2008), Kellogg's 'Fiery Furnace' and Grieg's 'Peer Gynt' (San Diego Symphony 2008), Les Pecheurs de Perle (May 2008), Tosca (SDO 2009), Don Quichotte/Don Quixote (SDO 2009), Rigoletto (SDO 2009).