Music Reviews

Jan 25, 2009 - Pianist James Winn, conductor Jonathan Shames and the Reno Chamber Orchestra shine it on with elegance

By Jack Neal

Not every conductor makes as big a splash as Leonard Bernstein. In 1943 a very young Bernstein substituted for an ailing Bruno Walter to lead the New York Philharmonic in what became a legendary debut and immediate fame.

There are other major conducting talents who never get that kind of recognition - instant or otherwise. One such talent made his Reno debut Saturday night (1/24/09) conducting the Reno Chamber Orchestra at Nightingale Concert Hall. So impressive was his debut the large audience was, almost at once, transformed into bravo-shouting instant fans.

Relatively unknown in these parts, Jonathan Shames was exceptionally impressive as he conducted revelatory performances of Sibelius’s “Pelleas et Melisande” Suite, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 with pianist James Winn, J.S. Bach’s Concerto for Two Keyboards in C Major with Winn and Shames as soloists, and Schubert’s radiant Symphony No. 1 in D Major.

If Saturday’s concert was any indication, Shames is a maestro who gets the most from an orchestra and the utmost from the scores he conducts.

His Sibelius was an adroit balancing act that gave each musical line its moment in the sun. His reading was transparent, each theme in perfect balance, each note - as Sibelius once described - “swimming in the sauce.” And, oh, what a marvelous sauce it was. As the program’s curtain-raiser, the Sibelius’s rhapsodic music - with exquisite English horn passages played by Angela Lenz - was so ravishingly brought off it was immediately evident something special was happening; and that something special was inspired by someone who knows the music in an intimate and very personal way.

Shames’s Schubert had a deft light touch with echoes of Mozartian elegance. For that extra oomph of theatrical excitement, the conductor made the most of the quick-witted first and last movements infusing their every phrase with the joys of music so evident in Schubert’s writing.

Mozart’s sublime Piano Concerto No. 24 came off somewhat light on passion, but lacked for nothing in the fastidious and nobility departments. Much like Shames’s reputation as a conductor, James Winn is a remarkable American pianist without the fame that goes with his formidable gifts. The introspection of Winn’s playing marinated as it was with the lucidity of Shames’s management of the orchestral portion of the score made the performance one for the ages.

Bach’s inventive, intricate Concerto for Two Keyboards in C Major was superbly realized by Winn and Shames. The repartee between the two pianists was seamless. Best of all, their extensive technical facility wasn’t an end in itself but an artistic bridge to musical depth. Bravo for that.

Kudos to all, including the orchestra, which made the most of the many occasions this program offered to provide a gorgeous sound, an enviable technical clarity and a solid musical presence.

The concert was repeated Sunday (1/25/09) at 2 p.m.

All Reno Chamber Orchestra subscription concerts are played at Nightingale Concert Hall, 1664 North Virginia Street, Reno, Nevada. The orchestra’s next series of concerts will be Saturday, March 14, 2009, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, March 15, 2009, at 2 p.m. and will feature double bassist Edgar Meyer and the music of Stravinsky, Bottesini, Meyer and Mozart. Theodore Kuchar will conduct. For information call 775-348-9413,