It's Gonna Rain, May 24, 2009

Awadagin Pratt

Having decided to drop in on "Wired," the new string band founded by students at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music in December, I found quite a fertile experiment underway.
   The 17-member group's third and final concert of the season was Saturday night (May 23) in CCM's Robert Werner Recital Hall.  Awadagin Pratt conducted.
   Pratt, well known as a pianist and recording artist, is artist-in-residence at CCM.  Less well known is that Pratt is a conductor, too.  In fact, he was the first student in the history of Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore to earn diplomas in three performance areas, piano, violin and conducting.  He caught the brass ring with  piano, having won the Naumberg International Piano Competition in 1992.  He would like to do more conducting, he says, and his work with Wired affirms that resolve.
   It was a small, but very enthusiastic audience, many of whom trekked backstage to offer their congratulations afterward.  They were treated to an unusual, ambitious and attractive program.  The band was augmented by harpsichord in the opening Concerto for Two Cellos by Vivaldi and by harp (Elizabeth Motter) in the Adagietto from Mahler's Fifth Symphony.
   Also on the program were Haydn's Concerto for Horns in D Major, two movements from Dvorak's Serenade for Strings, Op.22 (Moderato and Tempo di Valse), Barber's Adagio for Strings and Sinfonia No. 10 in B Minor by Mendelssohn.  Soloists in the Vivaldi were cellists Sae Rom Kwon and Shannon Lockwood, both members of Wired.   CCM doctoral candidate Anna Leverenz was soloist in the Haydn Concerto.
   The Haydn was performed in observance of the 200th anniversary of the composer's death, Mendelssohn to commemorate the 200th anniversary of his birth.
   Pratt enhanced the program with some engaging commentary from the stage about the composers and their music.  (Did you know that a critic at the premiere of Barber's Adagio by Toscanini and the NBC Symphony called it "antediluvian?").
   The three soloists demonstrated considerable agility and musicianship in their respective concertos, which were doubly rewarding since they are not that often heard.
   Pratt tailored the Vivaldi with minimal, but precise gestures.  He took a more lyrical approach to the Haydn, which has a strikingly beautiful slow movement.
   The pairing of the Barber and Mahler was inspired.  Both have served well in moments of remembrance and tragedy, although Barber, said Pratt, insisted that his Adagio was "just music" and Mahler's Adagietto was a love poem for his wife.
   Conductor and players alike poured feeling into the two works.  A pin's drop could have been heard after the climactic moment in the Barber, which Pratt drew to its conclusion with the utmost calm and assurance.  Mahler's Adagietto flowed naturally from it.  Not only are both works deeply touching (the Mahler was heard in many tributes following Leonard Bernstein's death) but they have a harmonic link.  Mahler begins with the same chord with which Barber's Adagio ends.  It is like the sun coming out, since the Adagietto flows from there into a major key.
   Pratt showed himself a romantic in the Mahler, summoning such a rich, full sound that it seemed to come from many more than just 17 players.
   Final work was Mendelssohn's Sinfonia No. 10 (composed when he was 13), a lovely Adagio-Allegro movement with a dramatic edge and dark, viola coloring (the violas are divided).  The Wired players gave it warmth and beauty, playing nimbly through the Presto conclusion.
   Pratt and his musicians bowed in unison in response to the applause.
   Here's hoping this enterprising endeavor will continue.