Guest conductor Thomas Wilkins took the podium at the Tivoli theatre in front of the Chattanooga Symphony Thursday and Friday night. Wilkins is currently the Music Director at the Omaha Symphony, Resident Conductor at the Detroit Symphony, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. He is also the first chapter of a two year search to replace the current Music Director, Bob Bernhardt.
The first half of Friday's program was marked by a delightful performance of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto by accomplished solo pianist Michael Chertock. The second half of the bill was a pleasantly accurate performance of Tchaikovsky's fifth symphony.
The tempo was well set, and from the very beginning, Chertock masterfully commanded the attention of the audience with the resplendent nature of the ascending chords from the opening motive. He brought a fractured, staggering approach to the statement of the main melodic theme in the first solo segment. Then sealed the deal by communicating the plush romance of the gushing tutti sections in the first movement. The pianist was well prepared, and his chemistry with the audience was undeniable.
Wilkins, however, seemed to lack a connection to the performers, much less the audience. Wilkins is obviously a very capable conductor, and he seemed to thoroughly enjoy what he was doing: he smiled consistently at the orchestra; his baton technique was nothing short of textbook. What seemed to be lacking in his performance was the zeal and fire necessary to infuse the orchestra with the fervent virility Tchaikovsky's music requires. At the fortissimo entrances and cutoffs, he made eye contact with Chertock, and smiled, but did not seem to know how to be affected by the pianist—one of the very things that validates a concerto performance. The rhapsodies in the andantino semplice were lost; the bodice-ripping emotion tied up in the epic melodies in this movement was simply absent.
While Chertock managed to make the otherwise pallid concerto successful, the sound that Wilkins elicited from the orchestra while performing the Fifth Symphony was similarly pale. The majesty of the fourth movement, especially, was not reflected by Wilkins' performance.
The next guest conductor on the docket is Tobias Foskett. He will direct a bill featuring Beethoven's Symphony no. 7 on November 12th.
From chattanoogasymphony.org:
We happily welcome back Maestro Foskett to lead a program of Beethoven, Brahms and Wagner. Beethoven's Seventh Symphony is a rhythmic powerhouse, and the Brahms and Wagner add rich complexity to this magnificent performance.
gwbled on Oct. 22, 2009
I disagree, I think that Thomas led the Symphony well and conducted better than Chattanoogans have generallly seen for fifteen years. The musicians seemed to be having fun and working together which was nice for a change. I thoroughly enjoyed the concert and I am looking forward to Tobias Foskett in November.
Chattanooga needs a new conductor who motivates musicians, challenges audiences and brings in a new donor base. The donor base we have is dwindling due to age and lack of inspiration. Thomas Wilkens has proved in Omaha that he is willing to speak and volunteer in his community at both organizations and schools. This is the type of fresh air that the CSO requires in order to grow. The base must be built from the ground up rather than hoping that an audience will happen to show up at the Tivoli.
Everyone that was seated around me commented about how they enjoyed Thomas and appreciated both his comments to them and his conducting of the orchestra. The rest of the Tivoli certainly had a good time also with their long standing ovations for both pieces.
Tim Hinck on Oct. 26, 2009
Having spoken with some of the symphony musicians personally, what the Chattanooga Symphony really needs is a director who musically challenges the players and the Chattanooga audiences with more ambitious and experimental programming. Orchestras and Opera Houses all over the world are beginning to reinvent "Classical Music" by reconstructing the whole performance event: programming New Music that is audience-accessible... discarding the stale, traditional program recipe of Overture;Concerto;Symphony adding up to 100 minutes with an intermission... removing the formality and stuffiness of the evening and attracting younger crowds.
Chattanooga is ripe to be a city on the forefront of these changes, and change WILL come soon with the passing of a generation. Our city is in the perfect position demographically, economically, logistically, and aesthetically to be a beacon and epicenter for Classical Music Revolution.
twitter-15973785 on Oct. 26, 2009
Tim, I appreciate your sentiments regarding the CSO programming new music, and I assure you that I am of the same persuasion and would love to see this happen. Unfortunately, the majority of the attendees at your average "Masterworks" performance are there to hear a masterwork, and have little to no awareness of contemporary happenings in classical music. This is indeed a challenge that the incoming music director must be prepared to address, among many others.