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Review: Florida Orchestra finds a match in 'Romeo And Juliet'

 
Published Jan. 25, 2015

TAMPA — Well, hey. Even a world-class orchestra can suffer the perils of the dreaded "technical difficulties."

And so it came to pass Friday for the Florida Orchestra. While in the midst of Prokofiev's luscious suite from the ballet Romeo and Juliet, the lights went out. A set of blue Christmas bells and a gigantic red candy cane illuminated the stage walls.

There was mumbling from the crowd in Ferguson Hall at the David A. Straz Jr. Center for the Performing Arts. Christmas was clearly past and this was probably not a cool concert effect.

But here's the great thing. The musicians, under the leadership of guest conductor Gerard Schwarz, never lost it.

It's actually an important illustration of why we witness live art. If the thrill of performance is really the biggest selling point for a modern orchestra, that means things can't always be flawless. Recovering from even the weirder curve balls and candy canes is part of the deal, for the performers and the guests.

Indeed, the lights came back and the audience clapped. The orchestra jumped back into the suite without hesitation, and it was delicious.

The whole work was exquisite from the start, when the familiar, urgent introduction of the Montagues and Capulets lurched from the strings. The orchestra seemed revved to play the piece. Concertmaster Jeffrey Multer, who is always animated with his violin anyway, almost came out of his seat a couple of times.

The suite was romantic, full-sounding and packed with drama, most notably the stirring section that accompanies the death of Tybalt. Close your eyes and picture Tybalt and Mercutio hacking it out until the end.

The program began with a less-rousing choice, Barber's Mutations from Bach for Brass. Schwarz, an accomplished trumpeter who once knew Barber, got to hear the piece before its publication in 1968. Surely it is dear to him, and it was an interesting exercise for the ear. An all-brass cluster of 11 played Mutations, which advanced from simple to layered but never fully excited.

Copland's Piano Concerto capped the American half of the program, packed with levels thanks to restrained, effective work from soloist William Wolfram.

Copland helped create an expressly American sound through pieces like this one, which isn't played all that often. It has two parts strung together without pause, both sentimental and jazzy, and the musicians deftly explored the piece's multiple personalities. Try and follow the recurring theme through its discordant twists and leaps to different instruments, as if the theme stayed late at a party that got wild.

Schwarz had time to squeeze in one more piece before Romeo and Juliet, so he went with another Russian composer in Rimsky-Korsakov. The orchestra energetically tackled the overture to the opera The Tsar's Bride, a lyrical tease that doesn't give away the poisonous, stabby, melodramatic plot ahead.

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Contact Stephanie Hayes at shayes@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8716. Follow @stephhayes.