This weekend the BPO is hosting Venezuelan-born trumpet virtuoso Pacho Flores, un hombre con mucho espíritu, for not one, but two trumpet concertos. Flores played the perhaps familiar one by Haydn, often heard on our local WNED Classical radio, and a new concerto, premiered in 2018, by Arturo Márquez, the Mexican composer known for his many exciting “Danzón” pieces.
When first arriving a Kleinhans I was surprised to see not one, but two padded piano benches in front of JoAnn Falletta’s conductor’s podium. Often cellists sit on those, but this was supposed to be a trumpet concert, not one for cello. What’s going on?
Well, it turns out that not only is Maestro Flores a master musician, but he’s a bit of a showman (aren’t all trumpet players?) who at one time or another on stage used, I believe, five different horns: the very high-pitched F soprano cornet, the higher D trumpet, the C trumpet, I think he had the standard B-flat trumpet, and then the lower voiced mellower Flugelhorn. In fact, when he came out to play the Mexican concerto, he had to enlist JoAnn Falletta as his assistant to carry all the hardware on stage, before laying the shiny horns down on the padded piano benches. That got a warm chuckle from the audience.
As ubiquitous as the trumpet is in bands all over the world, for classical music concerts, you know, with a soloist in front of an orchestra, it’s not anywhere near as common as the violin or the piano. Whereas most regulars at BPO concerts could probably rattle off the names of many violinists or pianists they’ve seen, well-known trumpeters are a shorter list, including say Wynton Marsalis or Chris Botti or Alison Balsom. So this concert was (and will be again Saturday, October 29 at 7:30 pm) definitely a very much appreciated one-off.
The BPO wisely flipped the order of the program so that the concert began with the much more traditional trumpet concerto by Haydn, which Pacho Flores definitely made his own, with a few edits, but primarily during a cadenza, the moment where the orchestra is silent and the soloist gets a chance to strut his stuff. Or show off. Or, at the concert on Friday morning, blow us all away. “How does he DO that?” must have crossed everyone’s mind.
Like Joshua in the Bible, Flores definitely blew down some walls that constrain what we call “classical” music.
His tone is so pure, so clean. I thought that playing the Concierto de Otoño by Márquez was wise since it made sense chronologically (Haydn wrote his concerto in 1796, Márquez in 2018) but also musically, to go from traditional to very jazzy. Márquez’s compositions are always rhythmic with lots of percussionists banging away on a variety of exotic instruments. Lots of fun. And if we thought that the cadenza for the Haydn was exciting, Pacho Flores really let it all out with his solo improvisation during the Autumn concerto.
On Friday morning the balcony was filled with what appeared to be middle school students, and I mean packed! What a great idea and those kids were great. Quiet and polite but when the time was right they showed their enthusiasm. I can’t promise that same audience energy on Saturday night. That will be up to you to provide!
For the second half of the concert, JoAnn Falletta conducted the Symphonie Fantastique by the brilliant, somewhat unbalanced, genius composer Hector Berlioz. It’s appropriate for Hallowe’en weekend because of the 4th and 5th movements (yes, this lasts over 50 minutes and is not your typical 4-movement symphony) titled “March to the Scaffold” and “Dream of the Witches Sabbath.” You may have heard of the famous “3 Bs of Classical Music” as Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. But the original list was more expansive in genres, as it was Bach, Beethoven, and Berlioz.
And the orchestra was huge for this work, with not one set, but two sets of tympani (kettle drums) on stage, and more in the balcony. Also, in the balcony for a duet with English hornist Anna Mattix (on stage) was BPO Principal oboist Henry Ward. And on stage were five trumpet players as opposed to the usual two, and four trombones, as opposed to the usual three. This was a big, big LOUD orchestra. If you’ve only heard Berlioz on the radio you really have to experience the Symphonie Fantastique in person. And again, the balcony audience, which probably hears classical music mostly through earbuds, went wild.
This fall the BPO is quite busy with classical and pops offerings. Check them all out at bpo.org, including, of course, this Saturday night’s, October 29 encore performance of the Haydn- Márquez-Berlioz concert at 7:30
Runtime: 2 hours and 10 minutes with one 20-minute intermission.
Kleinhans Music Hall is at “3 Symphony Circle” Buffalo, 14201 where Porter Avenue, Richmond Avenue, North Street and Wadsworth meet at a traffic circle. Visit www.bpo.org or call 716-885-5000. Full-service bar in the lobby or across the lobby in the Mary Seaton Room. Masks are optional.
The post BPO guest trumpeter knocks down walls appeared first on Buffalo Rising.
