By Eileen Wingard
SAN DIEGO–The Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra (TICO), conducted by David Amos, presented a concert of unusual quality and unique contrasts on March 29 at Tifereth Israel Synagogue.
First, they secured the services of a fine violinist, Uri Pianka, former concertmaster of the Israel Philharmonic and the Houston Symphony. The program concluded with Pianka’s performance of Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto, a piece characterized by two lyrical movements climaxed by a rapid third movement, moto prepetuo. Following the soloist in that last movement is a challenge for the most professional orchestras and conductors, and Amos, to his great credit, was able to keep it all together up to the violinist’s final frenzied ascending run. The orchestra, inspired by Pianka’s playing, accompanied him with sensitivity and attention to details.
The Concerto was preceded by two orchestral excerpts from Samuel Barbers’ opera, “Vanessa,” Intermezzo and Under the Willow Tree (Country Dance). Concertmaster Juanita Cummins executed her violin solos with attractive tone and rhythmic verve.
The first half of the program opened with Menuet Antique by Maurice Ravel, an interesting, seldom-heard work from the impressionist master.
The most ambitious composition on the program was Leos Janacek’s Sinfonietta for Orchestra. Written in 1925, it calls for additional brass players including nine trumpets, two bass trumpets and two tenor tubas. The extra brass players are not involved in all the five movements, but they created a joyful fanfare of high volume in the first and last two movements. The second movement depicted the city of Prague. The melodic and rhythmic ideas were derived from Moravian folk songs and dances. The third movement, with its haunting theme for muted violins and cellos against broken chords in the harp, provided a lovely repose from the surrounding movements. Despite the absence of several strong violinists– for example, Sarah Price-Keating was home with her new baby boy–the string section acquitted itself admirably in this demanding work. The woodwind, brass and percussion sections all did equally well.
The concert was performed the previous Sunday at Temple Emanu-El. TICO continues to be a great asset to our community. Conductor David Amos has developed a loyal, dedicated ensemble of musicians who come from all over San Diego County, Baja California and as far east as Imperial County to rehearse and perform together. TICO’s next concert at Tifereth Israel will be Tuesday, June 14. Titled “The Earth, Sun, Planets, and Beyond,” it will feature works by Carl Nielsen, Claude Debussy and Gustav Holst.
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Wingard is a retired violinist with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra and a freelance writer. She may be contacted at eileen.wingard@sdjewishworld.com