There Stands the Glass

I joined more than 1,000 concert-goers at the last of three de facto coronation ceremonies at Helzberg Hall on Sunday, March 24. Matthias Pintscher, the incoming Music Director of The Kansas City Symphony, appears to be a talented, benevolent and humble potentate.

Prior to the performance, the audience was told that Pintscher was mourning the death of his mentor Peter Eötvös. The distressing news raised the stakes for a vibrant reading of Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from ‘West Side Story’.

Composer Errollyn Wallen was in the house for the world premiere of her Violin Concerto. I couldn’t discern the hushed passages played by guest artist Philippe Quint from my seat in the rafters.

Charles Ives’ loopy “Three Places in New England” was my favorite piece. I sense the subversive programing is an indication of Pintscher’s plans for the Symphony. Aside from the prominence of a saxophone, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “Symphonic Dances” didn’t do much for me.

All tickets were $37 for the concerts billed as “Matthias Pintscher Conducts Symphonic Dances: West Side Story and Rachmaninoff”. Having gladly made the investment, I’m eager to evaluate the responses to Pintscher’s oversight of the Symphony at three European concerts in August. Here’s to fresh starts and new beginnings.

Deanna Ray Eberhart fangirled during her session at a master class conducted by Joyce DiDonato at Helzberg Hall on Thursday, January 11. Rather than responding appropriately to a vocal example provided by DiDonato, Eberhart exclaimed something like “hearing that up close is so cool!”

I completely sympathize with Eberhart. DiDonato, the iconic international star from Prairie Village, Kansas, was my 2022 Artist of the Year. DiDonato’s innovation approach has been a key component of my gradual embrace of operatic music. Her magnificent voice is among my favorite instruments.

I spent $39 for a lousy seat high above the stage during the first of DiDonato’s three concerts with the Kansas City Symphony on Friday, January 12. Yet for a moment I felt something akin to Eberhart’s experience. Due to an odd acoustical effect, the first offstage missive made by DiDonato in her dramatic entrance to Charles Ives’ ethereal “The Unanswered Question” seemed as if it had been whispered directly into my ear.

Nothing else in the lengthy program equaled the Ives, although a rendition of Gustav Mahler’s "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen" appeared to be excellent from my dicey location. I also relished DiDonato’s separate encores of Strauss’ “Morgen!” and sappy but heartrending readings of “Danny Boy” and “Shenandoah”.

I won’t include my opinions about the remainder of the program here, other than to note intriguing new pieces by Joel Thompson and Chen Yi and Zhou Long were performed. Rather than splurging on a good seat for the two repeat performances this weekend, I might binge on a few of the hours of previous DiDonato master classes online.

Concert Review: Matthias Pintscher Conducts Symphonic Dances: West Side Story and Rachmaninoff at Helzberg Hall

Concert Review: Joyce DiDonato at Helzberg Hall