Sarasota Orchestra's 'Melting Pot of Music' delivered melange of flavors

The Sarasota Orchestra’s Masterworks concert on Feb. 21 at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall overdelivered on its promise of a "melting pot of music." We were served a diverse tumult of sounds, styles and statements, which often delighted and sometimes tugged on heart strings. 

The four popular dances of Jimmy Lopez-Bellido’s "Fiesta!" immediately grabbed the spotlight with infectious rhythms largely from an array of percussion. However, the Morse code voices scattering from winds through brass kept the ears alert too. 

Conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya charmed the audience with his commentary on Lopez-Bellido, whom he’d known as a teenager. Both gentlemen are from Peru, and Harth-Bedoya is clearly his champion.

Lopez-Bellido has built an impressive body of work. "Fiesta!," his most popular creation, drives forward on a mix of Afro-Peruvian sound and an excellent use of orchestral color with provocative results. 

The highlight of the evening was a performance of Billy Childs’ Concerto for Saxophone (“Diaspora”) commissioned by saxophonist Steven Banks and conceived in tandem as a symphonic poem to portray the forced African diaspora. That’s a lot to ask, but Childs is an award bedecked composer-performer famed for capturing a uniquely American voice.

The three contiguous sections draw inspiration, and a narrative, from three poems ("Africa’s Lament" by Nayyirah Waheed, "If We Must Die"
by Claude McKay and "And Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou). In addition to the concert program notes, both composer and soloist notes on "Diaspora" can be found online, along with recordings of live performances.

The concerto is an epic expanse, superbly structured and performed with deep conviction by a soloist who was born to the music and became one with the message. From the opening theme on soprano saxophone, there was love and freedom of the Motherland, as the section is titled. 

Banks brought a delicious flow of melodic joy over a evolving froth of bubbling fragments from the orchestra. The music is its own signature, only hinting to direct the thoughts to Africa or what is to come as the contrasts deepen in intensity.

Banks delivered a haunting cadenza as the orchestra faded like the sight of land disappearing on the horizon. The sense of bewilderment and then desolation was palpable. As the narrative proceeded through “If We Must Die” and finally to “And Still I Rise," we hear growing anger through the orchestral language and the voice of the soloist.

Switching to alto saxophone, Banks re-entered in response to martial brass and agitation over a long gong roll and conversed with the orchestra in a fractured give-and-take rising to a crisis.

A multiphonic outrcry from Banks pierced the air amid strikes powered by the fortissimo bass drum and percussion array. The urgency of their musical negotiations clears the way to a quiet brave resolve. Banks mastered the technical demands and the shifting moods with clarity and purpose. 

The final section, an uplifting hymn theme, warmed the stage. Clearly nodding to the influence of the Black church, in which so many found a haven, the music is a transformation of the earlier African lament. 

The orchestra gathered energetically around this strong voice leading the way. It is a triumphant journey in which Banks, the soloist, emerged as the clear hero. The entire ensemble could rejoice in this performance. And Sarasota audiences can count themselves lucky to have heard it live.

The remaining two works on the program — Richard Strauss’ "Suite from Der Rosenkavalier," Op.59 and Maurice Ravel’s "La Valse" — completely shifted the mood to fin de siècle Europe. These performances were each resplendent with their beauty and obvious charms. 

Strauss’ rich harmonies and brilliant high court style in his sweeping waltz theme was paired with Ravel’s French attitude, a modern experimentation of sound and structure. A little bent-sidewise perhaps, but a lovely sweep nonetheless.

Harth-Bedoya sealed the deal, conducting without score and bringing out the best this orchestra offers. Bravo to all!