Minnesota Orchestra review: Full orchestra, fill-in conductor create memorable summer opening

Jul. 17—Osmo Vänskä played understudy for his own orchestra when Russian guest conductor Dima Slobodeniouk bumped up against COVID-related visa and travel restrictions.

Jon Kimura Parker, the orchestra's creative partner for summer programming and guest piano soloist, noted that when the orchestra found itself in a scramble, they were lucky enough to get a celebrity to replace Slobodeniouk: Minnesota Orchestra's own music director.

It was the first time since 2019 the entire orchestra met on stage for the summer programming, a draw in itself. The full orchestra certainly made a handsome group underneath the hall's distinctive protruding polyhedrons.

Book-ended by jazz standards in the atrium by the Peter Kogan Trio, who set a grooving mood before and after the concert, Friday evening's program hit satisfying notes, with the stunner of the show being a piano concerto by Florence Price. It was proceeded by a fast-paced symphonic overture by Hector Berlioz and followed by a moody composition by Richard Strauss.

The Berlioz work, "Le Corsaire" (The Pirate), Symphonic Overture, Opus 21, got things started with breakneck speed. It certainly lived up to its swashbuckling title with lots of thrilling action. A brief reprieve of legato after the initial chase scene beginning added to the buildup toward eventual fireworks at the end. The hefty bass sounds helped to fill a very exciting conclusion.

After the Berlioz, Parker, who introduced each of the pieces, said they were moving into the 20th century with the music of Price.

During her lifetime, Price had earned acclaim, composing works for the WPA Symphony Orchestra of Detroit, the Chicago Women's Symphony, and the Women's Symphony Orchestra of Chicago. In addition, Price was the first Black woman composer to have her work played by a major American orchestra, when the Chicago Symphony Orchestra played her music at the Chicago World's Fair.

Unfortunately, her work was rarely performed after she died in 1953, and she was nearly erased from the canon. The Minnesota Orchestra was among the institutions that neglected the noteworthy composer. They didn't play Price's music until 2019, according to program notes by Emily Hogstad.

In the last 20 years, groups have turned to and recorded Price's music. A discovery of her compositions in 2009 spurred a renewed interest in her unique style, which brought rhythms and sounds from Black musical traditions into classical music forms.

Price's Piano Concerto opened with a sweeping, epic first section, which had hints of the blues. Parker ran up and down the keyboard. He seemed to be having fun with the piece. In the second section, Parker showed off his technical alacrity, bouncing his perfectly dexterous hands over the keyboard with utmost focus. The piece ended with a pastoral, spiritual texture that was at once aching and sweet. It probably should have been the last work on the program, rather than the second, due to its divinely resonant conclusion.

As it was, Richard Strauss' dark and foreboding "Death and Transfiguration," Opus 24 finished up the evening after a bonus solo performed by Parker of Scott Joplin's "Solace," which he said he turned toward often throughout the pandemic. The solo was truly a delight, and a highlight of the evening.

The Strauss was heavy, not in a bad way. It's healthy to confront one's mortality every once in a while. The "tone poem" Strauss created was brilliantly conducted by Vänskä, who looked as if he were steering a ship amidst a squall. As the melody moved through the different sections, the soul-ruminating sound filled the hall, even as its reach went ultimately inward, toward the heart. It carried a profound sadness.

"Death and Transfiguration" might have been better as the middle piece, with Price's effervescent music sending the audience on its way at the end. As it was, people who stopped to listen to drummer Peter Kogan, piano player Abebi Stafford and bassist Chris Bates in the atrium on their way out the door had a bit of a cleanser from all that soul-probing.

Up next

— Who: The Minnesota Orchestra with conductor Ken-David Masur

— What: "American Musical Heroes: George Gershwin and John Williams"

— When: 7:45 p.m. July 30, 8 p.m. July 31, 2 p.m. Aug. 1

— Where: Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Mpls.

— Tickets: $62-$24, available at 612-371-5656 or minnesotaorchestra.org

— Capsule: Pianist and orchestra creative partner for summer programming Jon Kimura Parker shares the stage with the orchestra playing the works of American legends including George Gershwin and John Williams, conducted by Ken-David Masur in his debut.