UTAH SYMPHONY, with James Lent, Saturday at Deer Valley and Sunday at Snowbird.
The Utah Symphony gave a rather explosive performance — literally — this weekend at Deer Valley. The symphony's annual Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" concert, with live cannons, was certainly a hit with the audience. (Not literally, of course, but you could say it was a blast.)
It isn't often that the most impressive performer is the guy on the cannons. (Would he be considered a percussionist?)
The mountain ambience of Deer Valley Saturday evening was as much an integral part of the overall experience as the Utah Symphony.
Take, for example, guest pianist James Lent's performance of Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, Op. 26. In a smaller concert hall, the performance might have been a totally different experience. But as it was, Lent seemed to have trouble consistently projecting the emotional energy of the piece to the outdoor audience — let alone the psychological complexity. Although there were moments of momentum and energy, a lot of it came across as emotionally flat.
With the outdoor venue came the amplifying sound system, which altered the interaction between the piano and orchestra — at least from the audience's point of view. For example, in the third movement, the violins are supposed to have a soaring melody undergirded by heavy piano chords. The piano came across just fine, but the violins sounded like background music in comparison to the much louder piano.
There was one detail of the concerto (and also of the opening piece, Rimsky-Korsakov's overture to "The Russian Easter") that couldn't be attributed to the venue — the orchestra not consistently playing together in more than a couple moments of the organized chaos of the concerto's first movement, or when entrances in "The Russian Easter" came in a little early or a little late. The performers got the angularity of Prokofiev's concerto but not always the precision.
The second half of the program was quite a bit stronger. Beginning with a few selections from Tchaikovsky's "Sleeping Beauty" ballet suite, and then moving on to the "1812 Overture," the orchestra was much more vibrant, and, particularly with the "1812," together. Of course, the "1812 Overture" is well-suited for an outdoor venue. Making bold, dramatic statements with strong emotion, the patriotism and vigor easily penetrate a large audience, particularly with an energetic performance (which this was).
If that was the highlight of the concert, the highlight of the overture (and thus the evening) was definitely the live cannons. The outdoor venue came into play again — this time in a positive way — as the cannons flashed with explosion and then echoed several times off of the various mountains.
Although the outdoor venue affects the actual performance for better and (more often) for worse from a critical standpoint, it's the complete experience; the picnics, the blankets, the fresh air and the music combine to achieve what everyone comes for.
E-MAIL: rcline@desnews.com