Since these two have been subjects of fairly recent postings, I thought I
would share some impressions of a concert I heard a few Saturdays ago.

Brahms: Academic Festival Ov.
Lees: Etudes for Piano and Orchestra (James Dick, piano)
Sibelius: Symphony No.2
Texas Festival Orchestra
Robert Spano, conductor

Thirty years ago, the gifted pianist, James Dick, founded a series of
concerts at Round Top Texas.  Round Top is a Texas town about one hour's
drive from Houston, and two hours from Austin.  From modest beginnings,
the Summer Festival at Round Top now offers everything from chamber music
performances to full symphony concerts and a summer music school.  Visiting
the unique concert hall with its bright acoustics is almost worth the trip
to this rather out of the way location.

Saturday evening Robert Spano lead the mostly student orchestra in some
remarkable performances.  The students in the orchestra are carefully
selected and from the sound of the orchestra, all could find homes in
professional orchestras.  Over the years I have found the quality of
playing to be excellent.

This was my first time to experience Spano in performance.  I have heard
his work before, most significantly a well paced recording from Round
Top of the Copland Third Symphony.  The playing was polished, precise and
clearly articulated.  Lacking for me in that recording was a sense of the
spontaneous.  Knowing that the orchestra consisted mainly of students, one
could understand that the conductor was taking a conservative approach.  As
with that performance of the Copland, hisreading of the Brahms was precise
but, to my ears, undistinguished.

The high point of the concert was the Lees.  It is a brilliant piece.
As its title would suggest, it is indeed a series of etudes both for
the piano and the orchestra.  The soloist, James Dick, gave the first
performance of the work about 25 years ago with the Houston Symhony.  My
tape of that performance did not really prepare me for the impact the work
has in concert.  Every subtle shading of the work was clearly articulated
by the soloist and conductor.  It is a virtuoso piece of the first order.
The excitement of the performance, the impact of the work, and an the
almost immediate standing ovation was further enlivened when the composer
appeared on stage.  Lees, a man of average height and a pleasant,unassuming
appearance seemed to be such a marked contrast to music of such remarkable
power and expression.

The concert ended with the Sibelius Second Symphony.  While the
Koussevitzky recordings of it remain my favorites, I am always looking
for a new perspective on the piece.  Spano's reading was, as with the
Brahms, good but offered little of distinction.  Knowing the work so
well gave me the opportunity to observe his conducting.  I found his
choreography at the podium to be out of sync with any understanding I have
of the music.  A sweeping gesture to the cellos when they did not have an
entrance or a substantive role with the line, seemed perplexing to me.
Even as theatrical as Bernstein would be on the podium, you could hear a
reason for it.  Spano's movements left me wondering, "what's all the fuss
about?"

In closing, I find it refreshing that the programming at Round Top clearly
illustrates that a wide variety of repertoire can attract enthusiastic
audiences.  While the Sibelius was very well received, it was the Lees that
brought the house down.

It will be interesting to see how Spano does in Atlanta.  He appears to
be a well trained, intelligent musician.  To my ears, what he has to say
musically, remains to be heard.

Karl