Monterey Symphony Ends Its 2018-2019 Season with Cuban Pianist Marcos Madrigal

May 19, 2019

The director Max Bragado-Darman led the Monterey Symphony in a concert of three popular masterworks at the Sunset Center in Carmel, and, as expected, it was a great success, as each piece received a great ovation.

The concert began with one of Richard Wagner's masterworks, the overture to his opera The Flying Dutchman. The story of a cursed ship that can never reach port and is condemned to wander the seas forever is Wagner's music and continues to fascinate the audience as much as it did at its premiere in Dresden in 1843. Last night, the Monterey Symphony captivated us with its complete praise of strings, woodwinds, brass, trombones, bassoons, harps and percussion, in addition to the strong direction of Bragado-Darman.

The soloist heard during this concert was the brilliant Cuban pianist, Marcos Madrigal, who performed Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor. This is a work that is heard more often in recorded performances than in live concerts. One reason for this is the thinness of Chopin's orchestration, originally conceived for a reduced-size orchestra. Last night we heard a full orchestra that sometimes threatened to overwhelm the pianist.

However, where the full orchestral sound was not overwhelming was in the magnificent tutti at the beginning of the development section of the first movement of the Concerto and in the climactic moments in the final movement. There, the grand orchestration made sense.

In any case, pianist Madrigal was not about to be intimidated by a powerful orchestra at his side, because he is a brilliant pianist who sought the virtuosic aspects of the concerto rather than the elegant salon style demonstrated by Chopin in his own performances. The charming recitative accompanied by brilliant strings in the slow movement made a powerful effect, and the coda of the last movement never sounded better. Madrigal responded to the audience's enthusiastic response by playing an encore, a super virtuosic, knock-em-dead piece that I had never heard before. It sounded like Liszt, or perhaps Liszt on methamphetamine. It was dazzling.

The concert ended with an excellent performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5. No matter how many times I have heard this great work, it remains as effective and powerful as ever. Especially beautiful in the performance of the previous night was the delightful slow Andante movement that tore at the heartstrings, but in its entirety, the performance of the entire symphony of the previous night was extremely effective.

Goodbye, Monterey Symphony, see you in September. You gave us a great send-off.