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Cellist brings Saroyan to life

Wendy Warner and Fresno Phil meld for masterful concerto.

Published online on Sunday, Mar. 08, 2009

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The Fresno Philharmonic Orchestra filled the Saroyan Theatre with a huge sound Saturday, presenting a thundering and scintillating performance of Shostakovich's First Cello Concerto, Op. 107. Theodore Kuchar conducted and cellist Wendy Warner delivered a tour de force on her instrument.

And well she should. Warner has been performing this work for nearly 20 years; she knows her way around the near impossibilities presented by the composer. In the beginning, she hammered out the theme with wild abandon, letting the noise of string on fingerboard serve as percussion and ripping the bow with all the energy she could muster. The orchestra matched her intensity, and the great theme grabbed attention in short order.

This energy found a perfect respite in the second movement. Here, orchestra and soloist played with as much warmth as possible. Warner eased into her phrases and made her instrument sing, while the orchestra found the necessary dynamics to blend without overpowering the soloist.

In the cadenza, a solo third movement, Warner had to negotiate through Shostakovich's fertile imagination. Watching her fingers find their way around the fingerboard to grab the chords and manage the counterpoint looked like the untangling of knots. The result, however, was anything but clumsy or frustrating. The arc of idea through this movement makes the listener anticipate a climax, tricks the mind many times, and then delivers in the end. Warner met the idea with just the right expression, and when the climax came, she had all the energy to satisfy the promise.

The orchestra bent stoutly to its work in the Shostakovich as well. Where it stood out most was at the junction of cadenza and the fourth movement. Here, Warner's cello was leaping and trilling over the range of four octaves, and the orchestra rejoined with an excellent entrance, catching the energy of the soloist and transforming it into the fullness of the orchestral tone.

The concert began with Symphony No. 88 in G major by Joseph Haydn. This choice for an opener set the mood for the entire program. The small classical orchestra, the spare stage shorn of all ornamentation, and Haydn meant that this event was all about music. Notes, rhythms, themes, technique, virtuosity and musical idea.

The Haydn symphony captures the musical ideals of its time with the presentation of theme, clarity of form, and functional and precise harmony. The Fresno Philharmonic elected to perform as composed rather than infusing undue emotion or expression. This worked brilliantly.

In particular, throughout the second movement, marked largo (which means slow), Kuchar kept the tempo in check and resisted any possible temptation to push. As a result, the three-four meter did not dance; it sang, and the movement came off as a tender song. The dance movement followed, and the difference between the two movements was pronounced.

The final work, Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90, "Italian," was hit and miss. The winds and strings struggled to agree on the beat in the beginning, although each section held together just fine. The energy and expression worked well, but it's nice when the rhythm works, too. By contrast, the second movement soared with elegance and beauty as a result of the basses and cellos working together carefully to create the foundation for the others carrying the theme.

In the final movement, the orchestra built to a fantastic climax and completed a very entertaining concert. While the Mendelssohn seemed the least rehearsed of the three works, it did not lack in delight. However, the music on this program that must be heard is the Shostakovich, both for the composition itself, and for the thrill of hearing Wendy Warner.