[Harp-L] Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra Review

[Robert Bonfiglio <bon@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Westdeutsche Zeitung
16.02.2009

World Travelers make a Blues Festival out of a Concert
 by Veronika Pantel

The urban orchestra surprises with a unique Symphony program

Outside is rattling, clinking cold weather, inside sizzling American  
music warms one up. The Wuppertaler Orchester presents itself with  
its 6th Sinfoniekonzert in the town hall with a "Worldtravelers"  
theme, and it is not only because of the program - Conductor Andrea  
Quinn is native Britain, and soloist Robert Bonfiglio originates from  
Iowa. Blues, Brazilian folk music and jazz sounds introduce the  
instrument for the Concerto for Harmonica and Orchestra which the  
Brazilian Heitor Villa-Lobos wrote 1955.
    And who would believe, the harmonica, suited for hiking and  
campfire romanticism, astonishes with what the Virtuoso of his small,  
handy Harmonica can elicit with the variety of tones, chords and  
sounds. The mouth instrument fits extremely well into the orchestra  
sound.
    Heitor Villa-Lobos is considered the most well-known Brazilian  
composer. His work sprung from the idea to merge the music of Europe  
with the folklore of Latin America. That shows also the Concerto for  
Harmonica and Orchestra, which presents Robert Bonfiglio as soloist.  
The American is celebrated as "Paganini of the Harmonica."
    With the individual woodwind instruments the harmonica fights  
out fiery or gentle dialogues. It can sadly complain and sound  
hoarse, it can sound strongly loud and dangerously soft in dizzying  
heights. It produces twisting glissandi and large tone leaps in the  
highly virtuosic solo cadenza.
    The last movement mixes Brazilian folk music with meter and  
rhythm changes into a new tonal language. The public is enthralled,  
but when Bonfiglio confesses that he began as a Blues player, after  
his first encore there is no more holding them back. Always new  
instruments he magically pulls from his pockets, always new rhythms  
pounding in the Blues tradition, the cellos persuaded for single tone  
accompaniment. At this point the Symphony Concert mutates into a  
Blues Festival.

     It had already loosely begun with George Gershwin's "An  
American in Paris."  Extremely precisely the graceful Conductor  
easily guided the orchestra through pitfalls of Gershwin's light and  
swinging sounds and yet so difficult music. Jazz sounds, somewhat  
well-known themes, collages and quotations, the rich work of 1928,  
which describes the mood which an American in sunny Paris  
experiences: A friendly melody swings up, which traffic soon covers  
in noise clusters; even one can hear a honking of the taxis. The  
enthusiasm for the energy of the music is shared by Quinn, the  
musicians and listeners equally - an unusual woman is this gripping  
conductor.
No miracle that she set Joan Towers stormy "Fanfare for A Uncommon  
Woman" on the program. Samuel Barbers first symphony op.9 (1936) with  
energetic and melodic themes and an often Wagnerian instrumentation  
concludes this unique Symphony Concert brilliant

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