Festival del Sole at Lincoln Theatre
Violin superstar Sarah Chang and young conducting sensation Alondra de la Parra sparred in the third movement of Felix Mendelssohn’s glorious Violin Concerto in E minor, a contest of bow versus baton. And yes, each was brilliant at what they did. But what they didn’t agree on was the tempo.
Festival del Sole, Napa Valley’s bid for a world-class music festival, is in its fourth year, fusing big-name talent and top eats and is hosted by many of Napa’s fine wineries. Co-founded by cellist Nina Kotova, who appears in concert Saturday, July 25, this year’s festival features the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas (POA), a newcomer that is garnering much acclaim in New York City and Mexico.
The overture to Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro is so well known and well-loved that it would be hard to ruin it. Equally, it’s entrances are so demanding that it is hard to do it justice, and De la Parra led a rousing version with particularly tight strings and a great bassoon. This was a young orchestra with a lively sound and sharp entrances and exits, a group of brilliant young musicians, many fresh from the conservatories, which De la Parra conceived and has been forging since 2004.
And they are destined to mature into a top orchestra, if their larger vision keeps pace with their lovely passage work.
Sarah Chang appeared onstage in some kind of green thingy, scrunchy top over tight fish tail, a shade that was certainly eye-catching, if a bit scary, but we were easily distracted when she plunged into the Concerto. She gave it a “dirty” reading, grumbling double stops and deep bowing to rise above the orchestra. De la Parra conducted incisively, sharp strokes to make her orchestra appear with a big sound and disappear so the violin could rise. This staccato is certainly effective, if not best suited for Mendelssohn, whose lyricism requires subtler dynamics. Chang is certainly not one to play “second fiddle” to any, and may have been expecting a more modulated approach. Nonetheless, her first movement cadenza was divine, and in the second movement her slow trilled chords were a show-stopper.
The third movement encompassed some of the cleanest and fastest cadenzas I have ever heard, but Chang pulled ahead of the beat, and the woodwinds, who are meant to accompany the runs, remained out of step. Rather than rein in her soloist or quicken her own pace, De la Parra turned away and stuck to her slower guns for some grim measures, a race where soloist and audience both came in second. But Chang’s astonishing agility was cause enough for shouts of acclaim among the applause.
I heard this piece performed by Nicolaj Znaider in this auditorium two years ago, backed by the sizzling Russian National Orchestra under the baton of Antonio Pappano. The orchestra’s gentler phrasing allowed Znaider to not only shine in the shiny parts, but to express a sweetness and passion that moved that audience to tears.
De la Parra and her POA earned their plaudits in Tchaikovsky’s mammoth Fifth Symphony. Biting deep into the raw onion of the Russian soul, their rich bass entrances and low woodsy clarinet invoked the recurring motif, Tchaikovsky’s bleak commentary on Providence and fate.
Among Festival luminaries, soprano Renée Fleming and pianist Leif Ove Andsnes can be heard this Thursday, July 23 at the astonishing Castello di Amarosa, a program worth fighting to hear. More info at www.fdsnapa.org.
—Adam Broner
This article originally appeared in the Piedmont Post
Photos: Top, Alondra de la Parra conducting the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, photo by Abby Ross. Bottom, violinist Sarah Chang, photo by Cliff Watts/EMI