S.F. Symphony conquers jazz under Morgan
Some conductors use a guest appearance with a major orchestra as an opportunity to show what they can do. Michael Morgan uses it to show what the orchestra can do.
I like his way better. Morgan’s concert with the San Francisco Symphony in Davies Symphony Hall on Friday, July 23, introduced the regrettably overlooked French composer Louise Farrenc to the orchestra’s repertoire. Then it took what Morgan called a “whiplashinducing turn” into the world of 1920s jazz, with a joyous rendition of James P. Johnson’s “Charleston.”
In other words, this was the kind of orchestra program that answered the important question, “What else could we be listening to aside from the same old stuff?” That’s much more rewarding than “Want to hear how well I conduct Tchaikovsky?”
Of course, Morgan doesn’t have much to prove to Bay Area music lovers at this point. In his 30 years as music director of the Oakland Symphony, he’s made that orchestra a vibrant hotbed for innovative programming, combining a judicious helping of the standard repertoire with music from a wide array of less familiar sources — including, in recent seasons particularly, works by female composers who have too often been left out of the historical narrative.
Farrenc, a powerhouse of French music throughout much of the 19th century as a composer, pianist and teacher, is just such a figure. And her majestic Third Symphony, which Morgan conducted in Oakland in 2019, suggests how much we’ve been missing by not performing her work.
Written in 1847, this fourmovement score is at once an embodiment of the early Romantic style — its general outlook bears a family resemblance to the symphonies of Schumann and Mendelssohn — and a wonderful burst of originality. Farrenc sketches with distinctively dark orchestral colors that match the moody key of G minor, but she also finds space in her canvas for ebullience and charm, especially in the boisterous scherzo movement. Her harmonies are capable of odd and unpredictable turns.
Most impressive is the expansive slow movement, built around a beautifully songful main theme that flowers into a series of long, robust musical paragraphs. If this music still remains to be explored after more than a century and a half, what other treasures might still lie undiscovered?
The “Charleston” is hardly unfamiliar — if only because of the handsonknees dance it accompanies — but it’s not the sort of music we usually encounter from a symphony orchestra. Yet Friday’s performance,
in an orchestral version by David Rimelis arranged by Nicholas Hersh, demonstrated just how well this ensemble, at least, can swing.
It helps to have skilled jazz improvisers such as trumpeter Mark Inouye, clarinetist Jerome Simas and trombonist Nicholas Platoff on hand, all three of whom took turns lighting up the stage with vivacious solos. Drummer Jacob Nissly set a suave rhythmic pace before exploding at the end with his own solo turn, and Morgan brought spirited expertise to the whole endeavor.
Music by Rossini — the overture to “La Gazza Ladra” and ballet music from “William Tell” — opened the program, and even these offerings sounded fresh, delivered with a blend of crisp rhythms and impeccable instrumental balance. For San Francisco audiences, the whole evening felt like a little burst of vitality from across the bay.