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Orchestra, Pianist Offer Spirited Mozart

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By KURT LOFT, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 20, 2007

TAMPA - Can musicians ever hope to reach perfection in Mozart?

Doubtful, as this most blessed of composers toys with mortals who try to pry into his creative mind. But when they do, sublime things can happen.

So it was Friday night at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, where The Florida Orchestra and soloist Andrew Armstrong made an impassioned if far-from-perfect go of the Piano Concerto No 23. Their effort - continued in concerts tonight and Sunday - displayed a satisfying mix of taste, restraint and sparkle, even if the performance felt more pampered than soul-searching.

This isn't to say music director Stefan Sanderling and his 33-year-old guest artist were anything less than a complementary team. Both injected life into the ravishing opening theme, and Armstrong's tender approach in the adagio felt like a lament.

This was the night's highlight, a moment of hushed emotion, written in a key Mozart used but once in all his piano concertos: F-sharp minor. By the end of the spirited finale, it was obvious that Armstrong could delve beyond surface technique.

'There are such complications going on behind the scenes with Mozart,' Armstrong said this week before a rehearsal. 'This is where he makes the most difficult music sound so simple.'
Sanderling made a curious choice to open the program with Mozart's ballet music from the opera 'Idomeneo,' although he drew plenty of verve from the reduced orchestra in the Chaconne. By the fourth section, however, the musicians sounded as if on auto-pilot.

The orchestra devoted the second half to a solid, four-square performance of Haydn's last published symphony, the 'London,' No. 104, and Sanderling nearly twisted an ankle as he slipped trying to mount the podium. (Two years ago, he broke a foot and arm after tumbling down a flight of stairs).

All members of the band played as a tight unit throughout this exquisitely shaped symphony, with concertmaster Jeffrey Multer leading a warm string section underneath the articulate phrasing of woodwinds and brass.

Performances continue tonight at Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg and Sunday at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater.

Reporter Kurt Loft can be reached at (813) 259-7570 or kloft@tampatrib.com.

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