Review of May 11, 2009, Concert
‘Fantasy, Mystery and Mayhem’ a first-rate performance
By Peter Jacobi, Bloomington Herald-Times Reviewer
May 13, 2009
The Southern Indiana Wind Ensemble is the real deal. Its program of “Fantasy, Mystery and Mayhem,” given Monday evening at Bloomington High School North, affirmed that once and for all.
Called together two seasons ago by Eric Isaacson, in daylight hours a music theorist who also directs graduate studies at IU’s Jacobs School, these 50 musicians from around the area have coalesced into a really fine assemblage capable of dispensing firs-rate performances, and these of repertoire that goes far beyond the usual Sousa marches, overtures and show tune potpourris.
Isaacson’s merry band is a true symphony orchestra without strings. Monday’s program would have been a challenge for any major wind collective anywhere. The Southern Indiana Wind Ensemble (SIWE) met the challenge.
Overlapping rhythmic peculiarities in John Adams’ “Short Ride in a Fast Machine” proved no problem. Neither did the dynamic hyperbole of Eric Whitacre’s eerily suggestive, disquieting “Ghost Train.” Concerted attacks were razor sharp. Solo contributions merited kudos. And that certainly was the case during “Gollum,” a movement from Johan de Meij’s “Lord of the Rings Symphony,” detailing the character and behavior of the sneaky, slimy monster in that story through a whining soprano saxophone.
SIWE sounded lush and stately in the stirring “Nimrod,” the famous and best loved ninth of Edward Elgar’s “Enigma Variations.” “Masquerade for Band,” a helter-skelter joyride through a string of musical exercises taken from composer Vincent Persichetti’s own textbook on composition, gave the ensemble plenty of clashes and climaxes to play with. And thoughts of Mickey Mouse and Disney came to mind during a vigorous and frisky reading of Paul Dukas’ “Sorcerer’s Apprentice.” Not a one of these items was a technical breeze, mind you. Together, having been accomplished as well as they were, they provided clear testimony of SIWE’s progress and proficiency. Maestro Isaacson has been doing his job.
Sharing the stage with the ensemble for Ron Nelson’s “Danza Capriccioso” was the evening’s soloist, the remarkable saxophonist Otis Murphy. Dexterity and fluency, polish and allure mark this artist’s performances and did once again as he mastered Nelson’s array of dares and demands. One wonders — whenever Murphy gives voice to his saxophone — if up yonder somewhere, Adolphe Sax, the inventor of the instrument that bears his name, sighs and smiles.
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