Saturday night’s concert was especially meaningful in regards to its location in Astoria, as it was devoted to the music of two giants of Scandinavian composers: Grieg and Sibelius. Astoria is steeped in the traditions of Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, with many immigrants from those nations choosing the settle in what must have been comforting climatic reminders of their homelands.
Violinist Elizabeth Pitcairn was the soloist in the lovely and imposing violin concerto of Jean Sibelius. She handled all of its considerable technical and musical hurdles with no sense of difficulty, even with some discrepancies between her tempos and those of the orchestra as a whole. She was given a well-deserved ovation at the conclusion of the concerto, and was also given quite the hearty round of applause between the first and second movements.
The second half of the concert was entirely given over to a complete performance of Edvard Grieg’s complete Incidental Music to Peer Gynt. There was practically a three-ring circus on stage (conductor Keith Clark jokingly noted that only a few wild animals were missing from the assemblage of personnel on stage), with dancers, three choruses (including the Ultima Thule Chorale from Norway) and vocal soloist Amy Hansen and narrator David Ogden Stiers. Stiers gave great inflection to the story of Peer Gynt, lending both gravity and levity to his colorful characterizations. Amy Hansen sang wonderfully, as did the North Coast Chorale and the singers of the Astoria Music Festival Apprentice Program.
The festival continues through this week and next weekend with the following performances:
Astoria Music Festival Chamber Players
Sunday, June 20 @ 4 pm
with Elizabeth Pitcairn and Richard Zeller
Music of Beethoven, Brahms and Korngold
Vocal Apprentice Artists Opera Scenes
Tuesday, June 22 @ 7:30 pm
Too Much Coffee Man and Bach for More
Wednesday, June 23 @ 7:30 pm
First opera based upon a comic book and Bach’s Coffee Cantata
Vienna’s Sacred Spring – Road to Wozzeck
Thursday, June 24 @ 7:30 pm
Schoenberg’s Transfigured Night & Pierrot Lunaire
Alban Berg’s Wozzeck
Friday, June 24 @ 7:30 pm
Saturday, June 25 @ 7:30 pm
Cellist Sergey Antonov with pianist Cary Lewis
Saturday, June 25 @ 4 pm
Festival Orchestra Grand Finale
Sunday, June 25 @ 4 pm
Music of Mozart, Schumann and Schubert
Sergey Antonov, cellist