Review: The great sound of EPO’s ‘Sonic Legacies’

14 Mar Review: The great sound of EPO’s ‘Sonic Legacies’

“…The program opened with the Evansville premiere of Jessie Montgomery’s “Banner,” a modern musical reconsideration of the “Star-Spangled Banner” as well as the notion of “anthem” itself in a modern and multi-cultural world. Kalia provided some helpful words of introduction to the short but amazingly rich composition. I had only heard chamber orchestra settings of “Banner,” but the EPO made use of woodwinds and brass as well as tympani and drums, all of which added interest to the piece.

A most noteworthy moment occurred in the dirge-like section, where Tiffany Freeman played a stirring solo and cadenza on her string bass. The composer is a violinist as well as a member of a string quartet, and “Banner” was written to feature a string quartet, in this case the Eykamp String Quartet. The only less-than-exciting moment in the performance came at the conclusion as quartet members were made to stand in acknowledgment of their fine work by Kalia, who himself had to provide most of the applause.

With the addition of more woodwind and brass players, the stage was set for Beethoven Symphony No. 2. Again Kalia spoke with us virtual listeners (actually, I think we were real), describing how this delightful composition arose from some of the darkest moments of Beethoven’s early life (he was 31 at the time). Of course, no one could hear any of the composer’s personal anguish in this charming, humorous, uplifting symphony. Especially lovely to hear — and lovely to see close-up — was the quartet of oboes and bassoons in the third movement.

Kalia’s choice of tempos seemed always appropriate, especially in the fourth movement, a whirlwind of fast string passages and driving rhythm. A noticeable blemish was the sound that cut out a number of times, but I suppose that no people working tech at the Victory imagined that they would have to deal with such a challenging season, each concert a different set of new difficulties to overcome.

The concert ended, Kalia dutifully signaled for performers to stand, again without the attendant electricity of applause. Yet we are reminded of the great, not-imagined challenges all — Kalia, performers, orchestra employees — must face as they prepare each re-done concert this season. And we doubly applaud the support of the concert’s donors — Linda Palmer and Phil Fassett, Dr. Lee and Kirsten Wagmeister and Susan Vaughan — upon whose gifts the EPO must surely depend in this impecunious but still-musical season.” 

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