Canadian Brass, MSO make joyful music
In case you were wondering, nothing says, “Happy Holidays!” quite like 10 brass players and four percussionists having a great time with holiday tunes.
The five members of the Canadian Brass strolled into the Marcus Center’s Uihlein Hall through a side door Wednesday evening, wearing their trademark suits with sneakers and opening with their encores.
Caleb Hudson and Chris Coletti (trumpets), Bernhard Scully (horn), Achilles Liarmakopoulos (trombone) and Chuck Daellenbach (tuba) brought their now famous, gentle, good humor and virtuosic playing to a holiday program they shared with the members of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra’s brass and percussion sections.
When the Canadian Brass first appeared in the early 1970s, they broke some significant classical-music rules. They picked up microphones and spoke casually to their audiences, told jokes from the stage, occasionally donned costumes and often clowned around while playing — and playing quite well. Audiences loved them, and musicians weren’t sure what to make of them.
More than four decades later, the internationally renowned quintet has toured, recorded and published extensively. It also has created an international appetite and audience for brass chamber music and inspired countless young brass players.
On Wednesday, the quintet moved from New Orleans street-band sounds, strolling in to “Just a Closer Walk With Thee,” to a crisply played rendition of Handel’s “Arrival of the Queen of Sheba,” a completely engaging version of the Beatles’ “Penny Lane,” some wonderfully stylish Glenn Miller tunes and a host of Christmas classics, ranging from a pealing “Joy to the World” to some delightful tunes from “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”
MSO brass players Matthew Ernst and David Cohen (trumpets), Matthew Annin (horn), and Megumi Kanda and John Thevenet (trombones) joined the Canadian Brass for a great portion of the program, with MSO members Dean Borghesani (timpani), Christopher Riggs and Patrick McGinn (percussion) and Nick Lang (drum set), appearing on several numbers.
The MSO brass took a turn in the spotlight with a lovely, polished performance of Michael Kamen’s “Quintet” and took several turns at solos throughout the evening. Kanda, the MSO’s principal trombone, joined Liarmakopoulos for a delightful, breezy performance of Robert Elkjer’s “All I Want for Christmas Are My Two Trombones.”
Despite the “encores first” shtick, the Canadian Brass delivered a catchme-if-you-can “Flight of the Bumblebee” to answer a standing ovation.