An Elegant Copland

Some folks wonder why they should waste their time and money going to a concert when they have all the music they want on their iPod, CD player, or other device.

Timothy Muffitt and his Lansing Symphony musicians showed us why there’s nothing like listening to live music at Saturday night’s (2/24/12) Masterwork Four concert.

The concert began with one of the most over-played pieces of music on any classical radio music station, Copland’s Appalachian Spring. Nothing is new in Appalachian Spring – everyone’s heard it before. But watching Muffitt conduct the LSO from my vantage point in Wharton Center’s Grand Tier (a fancy word for balcony), was like watching a painter carefully applying his colors on the canvas.

I watched the music as well as heard it. Not only did I hear the music created with utmost care and delicacy to make the genius of Copland come alive, but I also watched each instrument meld with another and marveled at the orchestration. Here, the Brooklyn-born composer used trumpets and harp to create a lovely and unusual sonority, and there he used muted trombones, bassoons and horns together. Amazing, carefully chosen colors.

Muffitt approached each chord with loving care to produce an artful sonic tapestry. I have never heard Appalachian Spring played with such sensitivity. Originally written for chamber orchestra, Muffitt kept the chamber quality for his full orchestra. And when the beloved theme, “Simple Gifts” was introduced by clarinetist Emmanuel Toledo, everything came together perfectly.

Sorry people, you won’t be able to get the experience I had in listening to this Copland masterpiece with two tiny speakers stuffed in your ears.

In delightful contrast, Muffitt then programmed a tuba concerto of all things. Phil Sinder, tuba prof at Michigan State University took center stage with the short but vibrant Tuba Concerto by Bruce Boughton. Sinder had a gorgeous, expressive tone, and in the final movement, shocked the audience with the agility of the huge brass instrument he commanded. He played with a beautiful lyricism and clean precision.

Yes, the ear usually seeks out the higher registers in instruments and voices, but in this case it was worth stretching our hearing comfort to dig deep and revel in the basso profundo.

For an encore Sinder delighted everyone with a jazzy version of the Beetles’ tune, Blackbird. Sinder proved that the tuba can, in fact, swing.

Decades ago, the Franck Symphony in D was standard concert fare, but in recent years is has slipped out of favor. For this concert, if provided a nice complement to the other selections. Lots of dark chords (my ear was now sensitized to the tuba range), featuring English horn, bass clarinet, violas and low brass. It was certainly beautiful, romantic and familiar music and the orchestra did itself proud.

But at the end of the concert, I was still remembering the transcendent reading of Appalachian Spring, one of the finest performances I have ever heard from the LSO.