Peninsula Reviews:
In perfect tune with Maestro Stewart’s imaginative programming, the 2019-2020 season was off to a most exciting start.
Incredibly inspiring…remarkably organic and confident.
Commendations are not only due to the woodwind and brass sections for their luscious sound and sparkling intonation, and to the many soloists, but the entire orchestra triumphed,
The audience was treated to an afternoon of scintillating orchestral color and percussive intricacies.
Special note for the fine trumpet performance and Concertmaster Nigel Armstrong’s excellent solo.
Jon Nakamatsu has become our highly respected and admired “local” Keyboard Master. His piano flourishes opened the concerto in grand style, trills, scale runs as Maestro Stewart gave full symphonic breadth to the grandiose orchestral exposition.
The first movement was a blend of exceptional piano virtuosity and orchestral coloring.
The second movement opened with 90 seconds of orchestral beauty, marked by a precise double bass pizzicatto. Stewart continued with splendiferous tuttis while Nakamatsu took every opportunity to display his feathery leggiero touch, his elegant chord voicing, and tone that ranged from soft and passionate to brightly singing and powerful. The resulting contrast was most agreeable and appreciated. Nakamatsu continued his introspective ways, exploring shades of piano and pianissimo, as if it were a quasi jazz improvisation rather than a rendering of a score while Maestro Stewart wove the orchestra sound at precise dynamic levels to produce balance and a colorful sound tapestry, impressively realized!
Nakamatsu opened the third movement with spirited virtuosity as the orchestra entered with its equally spirited contribution.
This was yet another marvelous opening season performance by the Santa Cruz Orchestra that under Maestro Stewart’s baton just keeps soaring to new musical experiences encountering new horizons.
Performing Arts Monterey Bay:
Since ascending the podium of the Santa Cruz Symphony, Daniel Stewart has already established a legacy that any successor here will find daunting. Sunday’s concisely staged production at the Mello in Watsonville kept focus riveted on the music itself. Stewart has a flair for surprises and the skill to draw audiences in on his terms.
The menu on offer: Mason Bates’ Mothership (2011), Stravinsky’s suite (1919) from the ballet Firebird (1910) and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto in E-flat “Emperor”. Bates was himself electronica-soloist in Mothership and the superb Jon Nakamatsu in the Beethoven. The piece was also its own miniature ‘concerto for orchestra,’ dotted with various concertante solos and two big ones: concertmaster Nigel Armstrong getting down with country fiddle and uptown trumpeter Matthew Ebisuzaki from closer to Harlem.
Stravinsky’s Firebird is all about magic and Stewart had exactly that in mind when he set out to conjure a spell. (He is much better than many conductors familiar to me at controlling dynamics—loud opposite quiet—to create suspense and, equally important, to stay in character.) This skill held the audience entranced with all of the composer’s sleight of hand, most especially in the ultra-mysterious Berceuse between Kastchei’s violent dance and the final crescendo. Stewart got his orchestra down to a whisper and held it there, allowing Stravinsky’s shimmering tricks to pull the audience in as if it were being entrusted with a secret.
The Beethoven concerto gives its soloist and conductor a boatload of decisions to be made on the fly. Getting through the technical demands to the level of art is no small achievement. Yet art won out, simultaneously cool and hot. Nakamatsu possesses great imagination and, like Stewart, no shortage of flair.