Tuba concerto kicks some brass in world debut

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WSO's Chris Lee: tuba front and centre (JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)

The debut work that received much advance attention was Canadian composer Victor Davies' Concerto for Tubameister and Orchestra. This special commission is a rare showcase for the patriarch of the brass family, and gave WSO principal tuba Chris Lee a chance to move front and centre to demonstrate his prodigious talent.

Tuba stereotypes banished quickly as Lee showed the previously undetected light-hearted and jaunty side of the instrument, moving along at a good clip, with equally cheerful strings and brass accompanying.

He showed great dynamic variation in the Theme and Variations, and Davies was sure to include those rumbling low notes we all love.

A waltzing tuba? Perhaps a touch elephantine, but Lee played with impressive delicacy and sweet flow to keep Waltz for Franco from becoming plodding. This was a graceful rendering by conductor Rei Hotoda and the WSO.

Perhaps best of all was Sancho Panza Goes to the Bull Fight, a castanet-enhanced samba, engaging the tuba in trills, syncopation and sky-high notes, while the trumpet section morphed into a mariachi band. If only the violins could have let their hair down and injected more life into their parts, the effect would have been complete. Olé!

Beethoven's Symphony No. 8 began with optimistic brightness and lyricism. Hotoda breathed good energy and urgency into the richly melodic opening movement and the orchestra responded with crisp, attentive playing.

The Allegretto was balletic in its lightness, violins precise and clean, while cellos, French horns and clarinet offered up mellow solos in the Minuet.

The final movement was a fine display of artistic teamwork, as a perfectly synchronized and expressive string section galloped along, with scampering flutes and solid brass giving it their all. Why then, did the violins give up the ghost in the final moments, ending shrilly and out of tune? It was a shame to end an otherwise strong performance this way.

Earlier, assistant concertmaster Karl Stobbe and principal bass Meredith Johnson performed Giovanni Bottesini's Grand Duo Concertante in A minor.

A double bass player himself, Bottesini wrote extensively for the instrument and also wrote 13 operas -- clearly evident in this strange work written for the smallest and largest members of the string family.

Violinist Stobbe played with all the finesse this piece required. Johnson displayed adept technical ability and wonderful phrasing, but was plagued by intonation inaccuracies from the start. He handled the funny little falsetto-like line well -- amazing us with how high the big bass fiddle can play.

You may have left wondering at the bizarre programming of this Masterworks concert, but you certainly weren't bored.

gwenda.nemerofsky@shaw.ca

Beethoven 8

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra

Centennial Concert Hall

Jan. 16 Attendance: 1,058

***1/2 out of five

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 18, 2009 D8