Arranger’s evening at İstanbul State Symphony

Spirit of Stokowski

In Serebrier’s early years, he served as an assistant to conductor Stokowski, who, until his death in 1977, was a dominant musical figure in both America and Europe and had a reputation as a flamboyant showman. Although clearly established as a master on the podium, Stokowski also employed clever personal marketing methods: On stage he had spotlights illuminating his hands and wild mane of white hair. Though born and bred in England, he adopted a faux-Slavic accent to match his Polish name and aristocratic manner. He appeared in films in the 1930s, ‘40s, and ‘50s as an iconic musical figure. For Walt Disney he was also an arranger and conductor for several animations, most notably “Fantasia.” The cartoon character Bugs Bunny portrayed Stokowski in Looney Tunes’ 1949 “Long-Haired Hare.” To purists, he was an embarrassment, but when we look at his large body of work, he was responsible for bringing a great deal of classical music to people via such media crossovers.

Serebrier is now one of few champions of Stokowski’s orchestral arrangements. He’s recorded them and is now conducting them around the world. In Bach’s “Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor,” Stokowski, who was an accomplished organist, duplicated the sounds of the organ with orchestral instruments. He used woodwinds to create a texture that mimics the reedy pipe sonorities, and the lower brass functioned like the bass pedals of the organ. The effect is quite stunning; the spine-tingling power of the tubas and the full orchestra’s carefully layered build-up capture the king of instruments’ majesty and drama. Serebrier, by the way, does not use any of his former mentor’s stage tricks; he modestly and skillfully drives the ensemble engine forward and was able to control this orchestra’s finicky electrical system, which threatened to disconnect at certain points.

Onay’s secret arranger

Of Mozart’s 27 piano concertos, the 20th is the first one he wrote in a minor mode and has a dark and stormy middle section, which is a departure from his normally sunny thematic material. This afforded him delicious opportunities for dramatic contrast, and this performance took decided advantage. Serebrier and Ms. Onay beautifully built the ravishing bloom in the second movement after a very tender beginning and allowed the players to frolic in furious activity involving constant key changes and perpetual motion. Not surprisingly, it is said that Beethoven admired this concerto and kept it in his repertoire and wrote cadenzas (moments of improvisation usually performed just prior to the finale) for it. Onay, delightfully fetching in her burgundy velvet outfit, reigned majestically at the grand piano as she elegantly floated Mozart’s magical melodies with disarming ease and expressive commitment. When she came to the cadenzas, I detected the Beethoven notes, but there were also curious moments of syncopation and other interesting twists. It turns out Onay’s husband, a mathematician and a pianist himself, re-wrote them. This charming surprise joined the evening’s theme of being an arranger’s showcase.

Opera’s famous melodies

Georges Bizet’s opera “Carmen” has probably more prize-winning melodies per moment than any other opera on the planet. Serebrier’s arrangements of them in a suite titled “Carmen Symphony” are a sparkling 45-odd minutes of 12 distilled vignettes from the tale of a libertine gypsy woman’s passionate life and ill-fated love. In general, the maestro gave the famous arias to a solo instrument that “sang” the tunes in lieu of a human voice. In the case of the “Habanera” (My love is like a wild bird that no one can tame), he gave it to an alto saxophone -- not normally an instrument in a symphony orchestra. Its unique timbre and sexy quality was a perfect choice to embody the voice of Carmen, whose warning to any man was “If you love me, watch out!” Unfortunately, however, the saxophonist Nüvit Has, who played all the right notes, had no concept of the emotional content of the aria. His homework should have been to listen to the opera and absorb the leading character’s allure and passion in order to transform his almost sight-read rendition into something more musically compelling.