By Daniel Buckwalter
Has there ever been a time when you walk into a warm and friendly building you’ve been to many times and know well — say, The Shedd Institute — and suddenly felt disoriented?
This happened to me over the weekend as I hunted for will call and my ticket, which is now in the north end of the building. The Shedd is always renovating, and this new area is spacious and inviting. I like it, but I wasn’t expecting it, so I had to take a few humorous moments to find my way around.
After that, however, I settled in for the familiar glow and warmth of microphilharmonic, which concluded a two-performance run on March 8 at The Shedd, celebrating tranquil Nordic compositions by Franz Berwald, Richard Wagner, and Edvard Grieg.
True, the southern Willamette Valley has not seen a good deal of winter weather, but the work of microphilharmonic invited the audiences to imagine slow walks through snow-covered meadows, to experience delicate adventurism in quiet places.
Or, as a man sitting next to me put it during intermission after the performance of Berwald’s “Grand Septet in B flat major,” there were also images of Elmer Fudd tiptoeing through the countryside hunting for that silly rabbit.
And that brings us to Tyler Abbott, the bass player for microphilharmonic, the Eugene Symphony Orchestra, and the Oregon Mozart Players, among others. He is an in-demand bassist, and for good reason. His unobtrusive and strong play in the Berwald piece was a sturdy anchor for the other musicians. Indeed, I was having visions of Elmer Fudd after the concert.
I hope someday to hear Abbott perform solo work, and that will likely be jazz. He is a true talent.
After intermission came Wagner’s “Siegfried Idyll,” an elegantly layered piece that featured exquisite violin play from Stephen Redfield and Alice Blankenship as well as beautiful solo work by French hornist Brian Vance and cellist Louis Lowenstein.
The final piece was Grieg’s classic “Peer Gynt Suite,” with the familiar introduction by the flutist (Kristen Halay) and oboist (Tom Nugent), and the glorious flourish at the end of the fourth and final movement.
After the Sunday performance I made the short walk home. The sun was out. Lilies and cherry trees were blooming. Spring is around the corner.
But patrons over the weekend got a taste of the peace and tranquility of winter, and I, for one, am grateful to microphilharmonic.
