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Meyer infuses freshness into familiar pieces

By Loren Tice SPECIAL TO THE HERALD-LEADER

David Stephenson

Daniel Meyer led a Lexington Philharmonic rehearsal Monday at the Singletary Center. Photo by David Stephenson | Staff

• Guest conductor stops for a spell

It was both the best and worst music to be saddled with.

Daniel Meyer auditioned last night for the music directorship of the Lexington Philharmonic with three of the most famous works ever written for orchestra: Antonin Dvorak's New World Symphony, Robert Schumann's Piano Concerto (with pianist Sara Buechner) and Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings.

That's good, for its familiarity. That's bad, for its familiarity. This time, the good triumphed, because it all sounded as fresh as if it had been composed just for this concert.

You needed only to look at Daniel Meyer's flashing hair to find out why. Meyer's style of conducting is very economical -- emphatic with no excess motion. But when the hair flies, so does the music.

Meyer began the concert with Adagio for Strings, potentially the saddest piece of music ever written. Samuel Barber didn't think so, and neither did Meyer. There was an overarching continuity to the line which sometimes glossed over moments of poignancy. But the rise to climax was superbly molded, the raptness of intensity saved for the very peak.

The Schumann concerto was equally fresh. Pianist Sara Buechner bounded with the energy of the piece (right out of her shoes). A typical moment was the first movement solo cadenza, which was played with astonishing verve.

In the second movement's interchanges between piano and orchestra, the pianist won the battle of originality. While she was coy, the orchestra was prim and proper. But the orchestra picked it right back up in the finale. Under other conductors, the Lexington orchestra has tended to lag in such a hurtling tempo. Not here. Buechner may have hurried through some passages, but with the final cadence, the audience responded in full throat.

The Dvorak symphony was the true revelation of the night. It is a kaleidoscope of a work, naive, but full of quicksilver changes. And it has never been so much fun watching a conductor make it work.

Meyer's beat is not fluid; it is so angular that he often indicates only the largest patterns. That's dangerous, unless orchestra and conductor are very well acquainted. In less than a week, that's exciting -- dicey but exciting. It seemed to me that there was an extra spring in the orchestra's step, especially strings and woodwinds.

Meyer is the fourth of five guest conductors to audition with the Philharmonic as it seeks a replacement for the retiring George Zack. This search is getting mighty interesting.music review lexington philharmonic