Posted by newspaper review... on January 25, 2004 at 14:23:58:
In Reply to: Ryan Anthony review posted by bloke on January 25, 2004 at 14:12:52:
Soloist's horn moves masses
CONCERT REVIEW
By Christopher Blank
January 25, 2004
Attending a concert by the IRIS Chamber Orchestra generally comes with the guarantee of hearing an encore from the soloist. IRIS fans know they have a champion in conductor Michael Stern, who boyishly elbows even the most reluctant performers back to the stage.
On Saturday night, however, the audience didn't rely on Stern to get trumpet player Ryan Anthony back in the house. Anthony's exhilarating set, sandwiched between Smetana's "Moldau" and Dvorak's Sixth Symphony, bedazzled concertgoers at the Germantown Performing Arts Centre.
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The concert marked a special occasion for Anthony, who also happens to live in Midtown Memphis.
The 34-year-old musician will now take his experience - from playing with orchestras including the Memphis Symphony in the early 1990s, to teaching at Oberlin, to starring in the renowned Canadian Brass - and concentrate on being a soloist. If his concert debut as a career soloist was any indication, he may have plenty of work in the future.
Opening with Albinoni's "Concerto Saint Marc," Anthony brought vitality and enthusiasm to the arrangement by Jean Thilde. Playing a piccolo trumpet, Anthony seemed most confident behind his fleet-fingered mastery of rapid arpeggios and flourishes, less so in the wide-open slow movements.
He then captivated the audience with a delightful "Rhapsody in Blue." The arrangement, which hands over Gershwin's best bits to the soloist - from the wailing clarinet intro to those lovely jazz age piano melodies in the final section - is a dream piece for any horn player.
Anthony played with solid gold consistency and clarity, working with, not outside the orchestra. Depending on one's tastes, too much deference to his comrades could be a fault. Particularly while playing a jazz-influenced piece, Anthony should be more of a maverick, not afraid to showboat a little. Jazz is about individuality. The glimmer is there - in the pluckiness with which he pulls the trumpet away from his mouth following a well-played passage, the way he seems to enjoy his forte flourishes.
His potential as a soloist is limited only by his restraint.
An encore, Gershwin's "Someone to Watch Over Me," which he played on a velvety flugelhorn to piano accompaniment, had that kind of individual feel. The loneliness of the piece was augmented by the soft snare brush of rain pouring on the ceiling outside.