Review: Minnesota Orchestra displays versatile virtuosity in ‘Summer at Orchestra Hall’ concert

So you couldn’t make it to Paris for the Olympics? That’s OK. You’re better off visiting when Paris is more like Paris than a city-sized athletic facility. Go when you can enjoy the embarrassment of cultural riches. The art, the food, the music

But if you were at Minneapolis’ Orchestra Hall on Friday night, you got a sense of the city’s place in musical history, specifically what was created or premiered there in the 1920s. Two of the four works were from the pens of French composers, while another was premiered in Paris.

The marquee work among them was Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major, with the host and principal soloist for “Summer at Orchestra Hall,” Jon Kimura Parker, commanding the keys.

And command he did, delivering a refreshingly straightforward interpretation of one of the 20th century’s great piano concertos, one that held opportunities for showiness but was as much a showcase for Ravel’s status as a master orchestrator as it was his abilities as a writer for the piano. Parker did wonderful things with his part, but the concerto proved the peak of a program that ably demonstrated the versatile virtuosity of the Minnesota Orchestra.

Making her local debut on the podium was the prodigious, London-born Stephanie Childress, who, at age 25, is surely one of the youngest conductors to ever lead the orchestra in its 121-year history. While most conductors her age are still in grad school and apprenticeships, Childress is already principal guest conductor of the Barcelona Symphony and is leading many a major orchestra this year.

Friday’s concert showed her to be graceful and expressive, admirably balancing force and gentleness. The Ravel concerto carried a mystical air in its opening movement, Parker masterfully segueing from wistful to tense before the ensuing adagio showed him to be taking a simple and direct approach to the music, sad but bereft of schmaltz or histrionics. It was simply beautiful and beautifully simple, enhanced by a heart-melting English horn solo from Marni J. Hougham.

And if you prefer a sprinter’s pace, the finale featured some lightning-fast phrases from Parker, all played with precision. The adrenaline continued to flow on an encore of George Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm.”

In addition to the Ravel concerto, conductor Childress’ interpretive instincts shone brightly on Francis Poulenc’s suite from his 1924 ballet, “Les Biches.” Here was a performance full of finely blended orchestral colors, Childress helping sculpt the sound with palpable affection and encouragement.

The only piece on the program without a Parisian pedigree was Kurt Weill’s “Little Threepenny Music,” but the windy work (no strings, save a guitar and banjo) fit well with the concert’s other pieces, as the German-born American composer was as intent upon incorporating influences of American jazz into the score as were Ravel and Poulenc on their 1920s-born pieces. Trombonist R. Douglas Wright seized his starring roles, particularly when bringing forth the “Mack the Knife” theme.

The least successful of the concert’s three suites was the collection of tunes from Sergei Prokofiev’s 1921 opera, “The Love for Three Oranges.” Rather than seek subtlety, Childress seemed intent upon keeping things big, bombastic and loud, and I found myself longing for the nuanced approach she brought to the Poulenc.

What: “Summer at Orchestra Hall” with pianist and host Jon Kimura Parker

When: Through Aug. 10

Where: Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Mpls.

Tickets: $34-$110, available at 612-371-5656 or minnesotaorchestra.org

Rob Hubbard is a Twin Cities classical music writer. Reach him at wordhub@yahoo.com.