Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 23, 1993 TAG: 9303230284
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SETH WILLIAMSON SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
SOLOIST POWERFUL, BUT CONCERT LACKING
Did somebody put springs in the Roanoke Civic Center seats?When Awadajin Pratt finished the Piano Concerto No. 3 of Ludwig van Beethoven on Monday night, the echoes had hardly died before the sold-out crowd was on its feet. In one of the more spontaneous demonstrations of enthusiasm seen in recent Roanoke Symphony concerts, the hall erupted with bravos and yells of approval for the 1992 Naumburg Prize winner.
A few hours before the concert, Pratt commented to an interviewer that the caricature of the "contest musician" as somebody who always plays "fast and loud" had some truth to it. But he showed himself an exception to this rule, delivering a Beethoven that was musicianly and even poetic at times. The inherent drama of this artist's playing was more than enough to make up for a few missed notes here and there.
Pratt, whose dreadlocks and purple socks give him a "bad boy" look, electrified the Civic Center audience with his powerful first-movement cadenza. And his playing was especially beautiful in the middle movement, which the pianist made as dreamy and romantic as a John Field nocturne.
He imbued the rollicking dance of the third-movement rondo with a subtle sense of menace, but the mood was dispelled by the final bars of the coda.
Pratt's Beethoven was the high point of this concert. The opening "Leonore Overture No. 2" by Beethoven did not come off well. The violins in particular sounded muddy and ill-defined, which did not help a performance with too many missed cues and entrances.
The second half of the concert was devoted to the world premiere of David Baker's specially commissioned work "Four Shades of Blue." Accessible and easy to like, the four-movement piece was an exploration of four aspects of the blues.
It is not a work for the ages, though this impression may be too much influenced by symphony players who quite frankly sounded as if they needed a lot more practice with the piece. There were moments in "Four Shades of Blue" when the work seemed on the verge of falling apart.
The first movement, "Boogie Woogie Blues," was busy and texturally interesting, recalling in places both Gil Evans and George Gershwin. The second movement, "Melancholy Blues," began with a lovely plaint from the oboe, and featured consistently fine writing for the woodwinds and strings. There was a broad declamatory passage toward the end, however, that fell flat on its face.
The third-movement jazz waltz, featured complex rhythmic passages that were too much for some of the players. The final "Blues for a Dancer" was pleasant but provided a weak ending (the order of the movements was altered this past weekend).
Seth Williamson produces feature news stories and a classical music program on public radio station WVTF (89.1 FM) in Roanoke.