AnnArbor.com Review of Mozart Birthday Bash

Ann Arbor Symphony pulls out all the stops for Mozart Birthday Bash


The magic that is Mozart was definitely in the air Saturday night at Hill Auditorium.
The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra offered its 14th annual Mozart Birthday Bash with an all-Mozart program capped by a stunning performance of the composer’s Requiem, his final work, with the symphony augmented by a 200-voice mixed choir and four flawless soloists.
Clearly, there’s no such thing as halfway measures for this ensemble.

The evening started out with Divertimento No. 1 for Strings in D Major, K. 136, a delightful, three-movement work characterized Saturday by extremely crisp playing. It’s hard to believe this was written essentially as background music. That was followed by the Horn Concerto No. 3 in E-flat Major with A2SO horn principal Andrew Pelletier as featured soloist. Pelletier’s performance was spot on.

The Requiem, the centerpiece of the evening, featured what seemed like a cast of thousands — vocal ensembles from Pioneer, Huron and South Lyon high schools, with singers from Measure for Measure, the Choral Union, the Vocal Arts Ensemble and Temple Beth Emeth, plus soprano Jennifer Larson, alto Sarah Nisbett, tenor John Charles Pierce and bass Stephen West as soloists. Not only did everyone look great up on stage, they sounded even better. The sheer ambitiousness of the project was admirable, and the task of getting members of all these groups to coalesce into a musical whole must have been formidable. By their sound, they were clearly well-rehearsed.


The soloists were also superb. Lawson’s rich, emotional voice, with Nisbett’s warm tone and wonderfully expressive eyes, combined perfectly with Pierce and West’s powerhouse singing. Alone, each would be impressive — together they seemed a force of nature.

Appropriately, 16 chords into the “Lacrimosa” section of Requiem, conductor Arie Lipsky stopped the show to point out that those were the final notes written by the composer before his death, then restarted the music from the beginning of the movement. The mood was such that I found myself holding my breath.

With such a large group on stage it might have been easy to overlook the musicians; however, the symphony was never overwhelmed, nor did its members seem daunted by their task. Their playing was of the quality we have some to expect from the A2SO under Lipsky’s leadership; that is, a performance of which everyone can be proud.

And speaking of the maestro, Lipsky marked his 10th year at the helm of the ensemble with Saturday’s show, and he was honored with a proclamation read by Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje. Martin Philbert, who was president of the Ann Arbor Symphony Board of Directors when Lipsky was hired, also spoke, flanked on stage by three other past presidents. He said Lipsky was chosen out of a field of 247 applicants, “many world class and some aspiring to be. But only one floated to the top.”

When it comes to birthdays such as Mr. Mozart’s, there’s no such thing as too much music.

Mozart Family Concert on January 24th

Young Mozart has started his 2010 world tour, with Ann Arbor as his only stop in the U.S! The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra presents the third concert in the Benard L. Maas Foundation Family Series: Mozart World Tour: Ann Arbor on January 24, 2010 in the Michigan Theater at 4pm.

During this one-hour A2SO-commissioned play, co-sponsored by Toyota, actors on stage depict Mozart’s exciting story while the symphony plays some of the composer’s greatest pieces. This concert-play presents a unique, upbeat and engaging opportunity to familiarize youngsters with Mozart’s music and have a great time.

This musical play features a script written by award-winning Ann Arbor playwright Jeff Duncan. A professor of English at Eastern Michigan University, Mr. Duncan has written three books, numerous essays, and 20 plays. He has been awarded a Creative Writing Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts. Jeff is the author of the recently published “Low Crimes & Misdemeanors: Confessions of a Tulsa Boy.” Area audiences have enjoyed many of his plays written for and produced by Ann Arbor’s Wild Swan Theater.

Yesse Kim, first-place winner of the 2009 Rosalie Edwards Youth Competition, will play Mozart piano excerpts to accompany Wolfgang Mozart’s performance during the play. Kim is a Junior at Ann Arbor Pioneer High School.

Treat your youngsters to a string Instrument Petting Zoo in the Michigan Theater lobby before the concerts from 2:30-3:30. Join representatives from Shar Products and the A2SO for a fun and informative adventure where your children can actually play a violin and cello that is sized for them.

Enjoy other pre-concert family fun activities including some amazing instruments from the Stearns Ancient Musical Instrument Collection.

Mozart World Tour: Ann Arbor begins at 4pm on Sunday, January 24th in the historic Michigan Theater in downtown Ann Arbor. Admission to the performance is $6 for children and $15 for adults. Tickets are available by calling 734/994-4801, visiting the A2SO office at 220 East Huron, Suite 470, M-F 9am to 5pm, online at www.a2so.com, by e-mail at a2so@a2so.com, and if not sold out, at the Michigan Theater box office starting at 2pm on the day of the concert.

The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra is a premier regional orchestra that offers live, symphonic music for all ages. The A²SO touches the lives of over 76,000 people annually from tiny tots to seasoned citizens in venues ranging from the Michigan Theater to Hill Auditorium, to schools in the five-county area, Ann Arbor, Dexter, and Ypsilanti District Libraries and senior centers. For concert or education programming information, contact the A2SO at 220 E. Huron, Suite 470, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, or phone 734/994-4801, or a2so@a2so.com.