For Gutierrez fans, I thought I would forward this review of his recent
concert with our orchestra.

   BPO reigns with majestic tones

   By HERMAN TROTTER
   Buffalo News
   News Music Critic
   3/5/00

   Television cameras ringed both the Kleinhans Music Hall stage and
   balcony Saturday evening as the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and
   Music Director JoAnn Falletta presented a program of music by Rossini,
   Respighi and, with pianist Horacio Gutierrez, Beethoven's "Emperor"
   Concerto.  The concert will be repeated at 2:30 p.m.  today, with a
   preconcert talk at 1:30.

   The cameras were taping for a broadcast at 8 p.m.  March 26 on WNED-TV
   and FM to be called "Imperial Splendor." Happily, the performances
   will support that title with room to spare.

   The opening Rossini Overture to "The Italian Woman in Algiers" was
   crisply done, with some deft woodwind solos and fine control of the
   typically Rossinian sudden attacks, crescendos and accelerandos.
   The opening of the "Emperor" Concerto left no doubt as to what we
   were to hear.  The grand orchestral chords were attacked heftily and
   right on the nose.  Gutierrez, who had brought his own piano for the
   concerts, played the florid introductory lines with authority and
   bravado, while the long orchestral passage that followed had the ring
   of majesty.

   Gutierrez pianism had its own breadth and majesty but without
   sacrificing any clarity of articulation or the pointing up of detail.
   He kept a good perspective on the music's larger picture, with the
   moments of delicacy just as effective as the grandly stated passages.
   There was a fine balance between soloist and orchestra and a palpable
   camaraderie.

   The Adagio was played with great reverence, while Gutierrez handled
   the ascending trills impeccably, yet with sensitivity to nuance and
   dynamic shading.  The same subtle detailing was later applied to the
   wonderful rocking figures just before the segue into the Finale, in
   which Gutierrez made the rising main theme sound full-toned and
   bursting with energy, but not blustery, while the orchestra matched
   the richness and solidity of sound.

   Falletta conducted the first BPO performance of Respighi's "Botticelli
   Triptych," proving that it should be heard more often.  The shimmering
   strings and pealing horn in "La Primavera," the fine bassoon solo,
   haunting use of the hymn "Veni Emmanuel," the gorgeous string/wind
   harmonies in "The Adoration of the Magi" and the great upsweep of
   sound in "The Birth of Venus" were linked together in a radiantly
   lovely performance.

   The blazing colors in the closing "Pines of Rome" by Respighi made
   a superb contrast with the textural delicacy of "Botticelli." Its
   opening razzle-dazzle, ecstatic climax coming out of the depths in
   "The Catacombs," and gorgeous sonorities and nightingale song in "The
   Janiculum" led into the inexorable marching, convulsive excitement
   of "The Appian Way," which invariably brings an audience tumult.
   This time was no exception.

"Linda Rogers" <[log in to unmask]>