By Sarah Hall
Salisbury Post
The Salisbury Symphony’s performance Saturday night was a real family affair, presenting duos by a husband and wife and a father and son.
The concert “Two Doubles and Three B’s” featured two double concertos. Joe and Mary Kay Robinson, oboe and violin, played Bach, and Bill and Dan Skidmore performed Brahms. The third “B,” a symphony by Beethoven, rounded out the evening.
The familiar opening strains of the J.S. Bach Concerto for Violin, Oboe and Strings in C Minor immediately won over the larger-than-usual audience. Excitement was already in the air, generated by the prospect of hearing Joe Robinson, a true and deserved celebrity of the symphonic world, along with his violinist wife Mary Kay, an outstanding performer in her own right.
And the performance did not disappoint.
Oboist Robinson, who came to fame ensconced for 27 years within the New York Philharmonic, is completely at ease in front of an orchestra as well. His playing appeared effortless, belying the resistance that is characteristic of his instrument. He and violinist Mary Kay performed with balanced elegance and grace, demonstrating they are outstanding music partners as well as life partners.
Reduced string sections were employed for the opening work, and the Baroque-size string orchestra accompanied and supported the pair well throughout. They were consistently precise, allowing the Robinsons to create their tonal dialogue without distraction.
Bill Skidmore, cello professor for West Virginia University, proved that he is a first-rate performer as well as teacher. And in the case of son Dan, the rosin doesn’t fall far from the tree. The Salisbury Symphony audience already knew they are fortunate to have him as their Symphony’s concert master, leading the strings with confidence and regaling us, the listeners, with impressive and satisfying solos when featured in past concerts.
In the dramatic Double Concerto for Violin and Cello in A Minor, renegade composer Johannes Brahms did something unusual. After a brief orchestral introduction, the cello plays a cadenza in the opening moments of the work, which is answered almost immediately by a violin cadenza. This gave both Skidmores an opportunity to demonstrate their technical command of their instruments right off the bat. Then they navigated their way confidently through the challenging passages, leading the audience through Brahms range of musical emotions ó brooding, resigned, and finally, somewhat playful.
The orchestra was up to the challenge as well. There was some disagreement among violins in the execution of a couple of sweeping string passages, but these instances were rare.
Ludwig van Beethoven’s sprightly Symphony No. 8 has been historically overshadowed by the monumental 7th and 9th symphonies on either side of it, but it was a good choice for the second half of this concert. It maintained the festive tone for an evening celebrating classical music, but presented enough challenges to demonstrate the orchestra’s abilities.
Beethoven wrote this humorous symphony during a misery-filled period of his life. Perhaps it was therapeutic for him to compose a work filled with musical jokes, where he seems intent on trying to make the orchestra’s musicians trip over unexpected musical pauses and curves.
In his pre-concert remarks, Hagy admitted to a few musical missteps by musicians in rehearsal, but promised there would be none during the performance. And the orchestra complied, deftly sidestepping the traps Beethoven laid for them.
Musical standouts in the minuet third movement were horn players Frank Merritt and John Olsen, clarinetist Eileen Young, and the entire cello section. Beethoven wrote the trio part of this movement in the true sense of the word “trio,” featuring an ensemble consisting of first and second horn and a clarinet playing lovely lyrical melodies floating over a frenetically contrasting cello accompaniment.
Perhaps this strange but beautiful section illustrates Beethoven’s state of mind at that time as he managed to produce some of history’s most amazing music in spite of the personal turmoil beneath it all.
In describing the symphony’s fourth movement with its recurring jarring chord that seems to keep interrupting the classical form, Hagy aptly called it Beethoven “sticking his tongue out at you.”
But in the end Beethoven proves there’s method to his madness and it all makes harmonic sense.
Overall, the Salisbury Symphony demonstrated its continued growth toward excellence. Bravo to all involved with the planning and execution of this fine performance.
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Contact Sarah Hall at shall@salisburypost.com or 704-797-4271.