Cascade Symphony endeavors to preserve visions of composers
Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, January 10, 2006
EDMONDS – While Cascade Symphony’s program Monday night was titled “Beethoven,” the second-half performance of that esteemed composer’s Symphony No. 6 (“Pastoral”) was seemingly the least of it.
Indeed, the selections on the program’s first half were the most memorable. They included a Northwest premiere of “Knights of the Red Branch” by the young, up-and-coming Seattleite composer Kevin Kaska.
Before performing that rare work for three harps and orchestra, maestro Michael Miropolsky greeted the standing-room-only crowd with some background on Rossini’s overture to “Il Signor Bruschino” and Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Capriccio Espagnole.”
This overture was written for the last of Rossini’s five one-act operas, and was penned by Rossini when he was only 21. It features elegant phrasing by violins and cellos, and a sweet melody line by the flute, enhanced by woodwinds.
The dynamic highlight of the evening came during “Capriccio Espagnole.” The orchestra was true to the work’s flashy opening, with tambourine, brass and strings prominent, clarinet ushering in a solo passage, and flute offering a fluttering, zephyr-like refrain. Concertmaster Stephen Provine’s violin and principal Norma Dermond’s cello were exquisitely sweet, and the sound of snare drum punctuated the work in distinctly Iberian fashion.
Before performing the Kaska work, Miropolsky brought out the harpists, Patricia McNulty Wooster, Heidi Dunlap and Patti Warden, all trained by Lynne Wainwright Palmer, Puget Sound’s grand dame of the classical harp. Wooster explained that Kaska’s work in New Zealand and Vienna prevented him from attending the Northwest premiere.
The “Knights of the Red Branch” is based on Irish Gaelic literature from the first century B.C. that tells of the exploits of King Conor MacNessa and his Red Branch warriors. Rich in a Celtic sort of elfin ambience, Kaska’s work was commissioned by the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Harp Society for its 2004 National Conference.
Kaska’s background in film composition showed up in the work at times, too. There was the occasional hint of a John Williams soundtrack, and a general cinematic feel from time to time. The work had a single harp playing, then two, then one giving way to another, and featured intriguing shifts from major to minor key.
