Although rain threatened to end the Big Finish for the final River Concert at St. Mary’s College of Maryland before it began on Friday evening July 31st, it stopped and the concert was an overwhelming success. A number of fans gathered under umbrellas, porticos and vendor’s booths waiting for the deluge to end before the concert began. The music sequence was quickly rearranged, to highlight the soloists first, just in case the concert needed to be ended quickly.
At previous River concerts Jeffrey Silberschlag explained that the weather was good because of the virgins that they had been throwing into the volcano before the concert. At the beginning of this seasons last concert, Mr. Silberschlag apologized and said “We ran out of virgins. We only got ones with inexperience.” Giampiero Sobrino, the Italian clarinet soloist for Aaron Copland’s “Concerto for Clarinet”, has performed under the baton of such well known conductors as Leonard Bernstein, Lorin Maazel and Zubin Mehta. He has been a soloist at many international festivals, taught in several European conservatories and been named principal clarinet for at least four orchestras, including the Philharmonic Orchestra of Lisbon and the Orchestra of Arena di Verona Foundation.
The first movement of the Copland piece was soft and gentle with a solo interlude that showed off the expertise of Mr. Sobrino. The second movement, called “Rather Fast” was bouncy and much faster, with the strings and piano echoing the clarinets tune. The music included lots of short fast notes and plucked sections by the cellos and basses. “Rhapsody in Blue” was superbly and enthusiastically played by Mr. Brian Ganz and the Chesapeake Orchestra. Mr. Ganz , a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory of Music, has been an artist-in-residence at St. Mary’s College of Maryland since 1986 and regularly performs for the public. His passion for the music was reflected in the way his entire body almost bounced over the keyboard, sometimes lively and sometimes punctuated with smiles, but also aware of the entrances to passages played by the orchestra. Both soloists received wholehearted standing ovations after their performances. “Symphonic Dances” from Bernstein’s West Side Story, enthusiastically played by the Chesapeake Orchestra, included the fight scene between the rival gangs the Sharks and the Jets, complete with finger snaps and a whistle. The song “Somewhere” was beautifully played and particularly moving.
The last scheduled piece was “Concerto for Clarinet” by Artie Shaw, with Giampiero Sobrino returning to the stage. This jazzy piece made the audience tap their toes and drew another standing ovation. The concert series finished with Jeffrey Silberschlag’s annual statement “I want to be the first to wish you a Merry Christmas” by playing “Sleigh Ride”. His joke caused laughter to break out across the audience and the piece, and the 2009 season, was followed by an enthusiastic standing ovation. Brian Ganz and Giampiero Sobrino are pictured.
