Solares Hill – A New Name and Some New Young Players
Sunday – December 11th, 2011
The Symphony is back. Now named the South Florida Symphony, the former Key West Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Sebrina Maria Alfonso returned on the first day of this month to the Tennessee Williams Theater. The concert offered Vaughan Williams’ “Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis,” Haydn’s “Cello Concerto in C” with Zuill Bailey brilliantly out front as soloist, and Mendelssohn’s “Italian Symphony.” All three pieces were played at the extremely high level of musicianship that the orchestra has consistently shown in the past. The Vaughan Williams, a composition for strings alone, had a full, generous sound, something of a hallmark of Sebrina’s, with the string players getting the most out of the voicings. Another hallmark was her control of the subtlest variations in dynamics. The piece included a duet beautifully played by Carl Larson, principal viola, and concertmaster Brent Price. Zuill Bailey’s playing of the Haydn was, in a word, marvelous. In the Adagio movement everything ― his basic sound, his vibrato, his beautifully handled dynamics ― came together to produce an extraordinary eloquence. His sound was rich and full and it stayed that way no matter how fast he was playing. In the last movement, that was fast indeed. Yet at moments one had the sense that he really would have liked to play faster still. Even at that tempo his articulations were precise, especially given the difficulty of some of the ornaments added to the score.
Bailey’s relationship with the Symphony began very early, when he played at a fundraiser to begin the project, and he has since performed with the group as soloist. In the intervening years he has gone well past being the simply very good cellist he was then. I have the Rostropovich recording of this piece, done when the great Russian was arguably the best cellist in the world, and Bailey’s playing of it deserves comparison. The Mendelssohn, very familiar, was an agreeable way to end the evening. The winds sounded fine and there was some brief but excellent playing by the brass and especially by Kim Valerio on lead flute. Sebrina’s conducting throughout was, as always, to the point; it was at its strongest in the Mendelssohn, where she drew everything out of that group that could be drawn. On softer, slower passages, her movements on the podium were graceful, giving way to powerful exhortations as the music increased in volume and energy. Several years ago Bailey himself remarked of Sebrina: “She’s a wonderful collaborator and a very insightful conductor.” That certainly proved true in this season opener. It’s good to have the Symphony back in town. In every concert the group has ever given, it has offered a well-chosen, well-rehearsed and well-played program of very good music. And it has set a standard of precision, discipline and artistic integrity that extends beyond music. It is a fine thing to have people coming to this town who are held ―and hold themselves ― to the highest possible standards. Let’s hope they keep coming back.
