CAPE MAY — The large audience attending the Cape May Music Festival concert on Thursday, May 31 got more than their money’s worth.

The lengthy list of goodies the music lovers received includes the Cape May Festival Orchestra in all its glory, under the lively baton of Music Director Stephen Rogers Radcliffe. Then there was the outstanding program the orchestra played and the dazzling piano soloist Fabio Bidini. The musical cornucopia was literally overflowing.

Gioacchino Rossini had a knack for writing frothy and frivolous overtures even for his allegedly tragic operas. In the midst of the crashing about in the orchestra’s percussion section is always a flute sounding like a demented magpie. Thursday night’s opening of the composer’s “Semiramide Overture” was vintage Rossini. Radcliffe gave it a reading worthy of Toscanini or Muti. It was a tooth rattling and percussive tour de force. The French horn quartet early in the piece was played lushly, as was the work of all sections of the orchestra.

Contrasted with Rossini’s bombastic boomer, the Schubert “Symphony No. 8,” or “Unfinished Symphony,” could only be described as tranquil and poetic. Mendelssohn is often described as a composer who never wrote an ugly note, and Schubert could be in the same category. The amount of music he turned out in 31 years, cut short by typhoid fever, is prodigious. His oeuvre amounted to 1,500 pieces. Schubert started to write the Symphony No. 8 when he was 25. He never returned to the project, but he more than earned the right to abandon it considering all the other music he wrote. Radcliffe and the orchestra gave the symphony its due in a haunting rendition that displayed the sonority of the strings and marvelous harmony in the winds.

Bidini’s advance billing called him a passionate pianist, thus qualifying for the understatement of the year.

The Prokofiev concerto is probably one of the most difficult to play in musical literature. It is a deft mixture of melody and dissonance reminiscent of “Rocky IV.” Bidini’s interpretation was a display of manual dexterity that inspired me to depict him with as many hands as a Hindu idol. His dynamic digits were a mere blur.
Artists of Bidini’s caliber are what have made the festival grow in stature and reputation. Although essentially hidden behind the concert grand, Radcliffe was a strong presence. His collaboration with the pianist was exquisite. The symbiotic relationship between the two artists was quite evident. Numerous standing ovations were well earned.

CAPE MAY — Good things come to an end entirely too soon. Fortunately citizens and visitors to Victorian Cape May have another two weeks to savor the musical riches provided by Stephen Rogers Radcliffe and his merry menage of musicians. The Cape May Music Festival runs to the end of the month.

Radcliffe becomes more and more adept at programming music to please every taste and even to stir up a bit of controversy.

A music director can’t get in too much trouble with classical, chamber music, pops or even jazz but just let him try some avant garde and he (or she) can stir up a hornet’s nest.

The great thing about Radcliffe is that through talent, charm or even chutzpah he seems to get away with anything. He is a pleasure to review and even when the music is not our cup of tea it is usually over with so soon that we don’t notice that we’ve been had. Bravo!

On Sunday night, the Cape May Festival Orchestra was in its Pops mode and the concert was of such quality that it could hold its own with anything we might hear and see on PBS or Arts and Entertainment.

The concert featured soprano Lynne Vardaman, tenor Mark Heller and baritone Richard Holmes along with a stage full of 40 instrumentalists and their kinetic conductor. We hope that Radcliffe, in a burst of enthusiasm, doesn’t someday throw himself off the podium like the late Dmitri Mitropoulos.
The two male soloists immediately established their credentials with the rollicking We’re Gondolieri from G&S’s The Gondoliers. They gave the duet a strenuous workout which brought a delighted audience response. They did more with the rapid fire patter of G&S and were joined by Lynne Vardaman in some tender love duets. They got seriously operatic with excerpts from La Boheme.
The orchestra was in fine fettle with lush Pucciniesque support for the singers. Heller was tender and effective as Rudolfo but had a little vocal difficulty at the climax of Che gelida manina that he could have resolved easily by clearing his throat. This simple move was prevented by not cutting off his remote mike for a moment. He recovered nicely while Vardaman was performing a limpid rendering of Mi chiamano Mimi. They handled the duet O Soave fanciula in grand style which made the audience eager to hear more.

Heller was great singing Freddie Aynsford Hill’s On the Street Where You Live. Many do not realize that the song was sung in the film version of My Fair Lady by Jeremy Brett who later went on to become the quintessential Sherlock Holmes in the BBC television series. The Holmes of the evening, Richard, delivered an impassioned “Were Thine that Special Face” from Cole Porter’s Kiss Me Kate.

Radcliffe pointed out the ascending chords in excerpts from Phantom of the Opera were “borrowed from Puccini’s lending library called Tosca.” Speaking of, you should pardon the expression, stealing, we detected some unauthorized theft from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum in the concert climax’s Leonard Bernstein’s hits, or was it the other way around.

Who gave the imaginative excuse for musical plagiarism by saying “There are only so many notes to work with?”

CAPE MAY — With the embarrassment of musical riches offered by the Cape May Music Festival it gets harder and harder to choose which are the must-see programs. We would like to take in the whole festival, but that would entail taking up residence in Cape May for the duration and neglecting the myriad cultural events taking place throughout the county.

We enjoyed the opening concert featuring the music of Schubert, Haydn and Ravel, but in checking the schedule we found the May 29 program was irresistible. We are a pushover for the music of Mozart and Richard Strauss.

The concert also was the first appearance of the Cape May Festival Orchestra under Maestro Stephen Rogers Radcliffe, so we really had no choice but to repair to Cape May’s Convention Hall and be transported by the music of the masters.

Not only were we to hear some works by our favorite composers but to hear the orchestra in the kind of thing that it does best — “O were it paradise enough!”

It was actually the festival orchestra’s first showing in Cape May’s Convention Hall and, furthermore, we were informed by MAC officials Michael Zuckerman and Mary Stewart that next year the entire festival will be held at the hall.

There have been past complaints about the quality of the acoustics in the hall, but a much improved sound system seems to have corrected the situation. The program was recorded for delayed broadcast on National Public Radio as was the opening show at the Cape Island Baptist Church.

The Cape May Music Festival is reaching the pinnacle of national recognition with the kind of quality programming they do best.

Stephen Rogers Radcliffe’s homecoming appearance was as spectacular and as warmly received as you would expect. Radcliffe’s reputation as a conductor is getting widespread attention simply because he is a topnotch practitioner of his profession. He is animated but not so kinetic as the late Dmitri Mitropoulos who frequently threw himself off the podium in a frenzy of enthusiasm and broke some major bones.

Radcliffe is precise but never rigid, and his players are never left in doubt as to his intentions. He defines the word leadership.

Wednesday night’s program was entirely one of music by composers from Vienna or its immediate environs. The city on the banks of the Danube has produced a long list of exceptional composers.

Brahms put it succinctly when he wrote that “The air is so full of melodies that one must be careful not to step on them” when writing about a walk in the Ringstrasse.

Mozart, who made Prague almost as famous, provided the first part of the musical menu. Radcliffe provided a lively reading of the Nozze di Figaro overture.

Marcia Butler, principal clarinet of the Festival orchestra, performed and recorded with musicians of international stature, gave an accurate and free and joyous interpretation of the score. She entered the spirit of the music with her movements as well as her spirited playing.

This exposition of the composers’ art in his old age was followed by Daniel Grabois’ interpretation of the youthful Strauss’ *Horn Concerto No. 1 in E-flat, Mr. Grabois has played with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and other major organizations and currently is on the Princeton University faculty.

He is eminently qualified to play the piece which daunted the composer’s horn virtuoso father to the degree that the two didn’t speak for years. It was this composition and the horn solo in Till Eulenspiegel that prompted the father to accuse his son of attempted fratricide.

Grabois was more than equal to the task. He was especially effective in the fiendishly difficult allegro con brio movement. In both selections the orchestra under Radcliffe’s busy baton gave ideal support.

Intermission was followed by a major work by Franz Schubert. Radcliffe introduced it with self-effacing good humor. Schubert, who was one of the progenitors of the romantic movement, was always melodic and never repetitious.

His work is like a great meal. It is satisfying but leaves a little corner of appetite for a little more. Certain other composers could have benefited by making their writing more compact.

Musical composition is like a sermon. If you can’t get it across within the limits of allotted time, it’s not worth saying. Come to think of it, The Cape May Music Festival is apparently aware of this dictum. No one ever wonders “when will this thing end” during one of their presentations.

That’s why the audience, having attended a CMMF concert, is forever hooked, no matter how bad the weather or great the distance involved.

— Ed Wismer

CAPE MAY — As with past years, the Cape May Music Festival 1995 edition is a gala celebration of great music, and on Wednesday, May 31 we were fortunate enough to witness a fantastic performance of Piotr Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D and the Mozart Symphony No. 39 in E flat.

The featured soloist in the Tchaikovsky concerto was violin virtuoso Maria Bachmann, with Stephen Rogers Radcliffe and the Cape May Festival Orchestra.

Ms. Bachmann is about to hit the big time of concert artists by virtue of a management contract with Columbia Artists and has been recommended by Leonard Slatkin, conductor of the National Symphony in Washington D.C.

She has performed with the South Jersey Symphony and the Bridgeton Symphony, but will now enter a new high-profile phase of her career.

The Tchaikovsky concerto evokes mental pictures of the majesty of czarist Russia contrasted with the wildly energetic gyrations of peasant dancing.

Anyone cognizant of Slavic culture finds the elegance and vigor of the music entrancing; anyone familiar with great violin masterpieces knows that this concerto is no exercise for beginners.

The concerto had to run a fierce gauntlet of fault finding when it was introduced in 1881 by the Vienna Philharmonic with Adolf Brodsky as soloist and Hans Richter on the podium. It was butchered by critic Eduard Hanslick and even Tchaikovsky’s patroness Nadezda von Meck was highly critical of the first movement. Some violinists of the day called it unplayable, but even with its minefield of difficult passages, it is only second to the Mendelssohn concerto in popularity with violinists and audiences today. Time has given Tchaikovsky his revenge.

The Cape May Festival Orchestra has the discipline, economy and responsiveness to Radcliffe’s excellent conducting to bring off even the uneven tempo of the scherzo movement of the Brahms and later to be equally effective in Tchaikovsky and Mozart.

Stephen Rogers Radcliffe’s cohorts did a magnificent job on the Variations complex score. Brahms probably wrote some of his best for woodwinds and that section of the orchestra often provides the identifying Brahms sound.

The Cape May Festival Orchestra has the discipline, economy and responsiveness to Radcliffe’s excellent conducting to bring off even the uneven tempo of the scherzo movement of the Brahms and later to be equally effective in Tchaikovsky and Mozart.

Maria Bachmann’s association with Columbia Artists began at midnight after her bravura performance of the Tchaikovsky violin concerto was completed with a flair and strength that seemed phenomenal for one so slightly built. She is a powerful performer and her opening statement of the initial theme informed the audience that she was not a lightweight by any measure.

There was a perfect amalgam between her and the orchestra; the only disappointment for us was a slight letdown in the second movement of the concerto. In the finale (a wild dance), Bachmann was ready to join the ranks of Szigeti, Morini and other female violinists who give the boys a run for their money.

Radcliffe’s reading of the Mozart symphony was right on the money and the final allegro echoed the good-humored portions of the film Amadeus.

We believe the 33-piece orchestra of incredibly gifted young musicians is the best the festival has ever assembled. Personnel changes from year to year are inevitable but there seems to be an unending supply of accomplished youngsters forthcoming annually from conservatories.

We hope that they continue to find steady employment in the field that they obviously love.

— Ed Wismer

OCEAN CITY — The second Cape May Music Festival event to be held on the Music Pier for 1994 took place June 4 and it was a real “Popper.”

The Cape May Festival Orchestra played a program of light classics and the best of Broadway. This does seem like carrying coals to Newcastle because of the similarity of programming by our own sensational Ocean City Pops, but good music is sempiternal and it’s truly a case of the more, the merrier.

It best represents another opportunity to spread culture in this area through cooperation by the Pashley Insurance Agency, The Sentinel-Ledger and the city of Ocean City. All concerned are to be commended for their support of the arts.

The Festival Orchestra had the pleasure and privilege of playing in Ocean City’s state of the art facility.

Festival artistic director Stephen Rogers Radcliffe mounted the podium and started the proceedings off with a flourish. Pops orchestras and programs are proliferating exponentially. Most of us think of Pops orchestras starting with that part-time fireman Arthur Fiedler up in Boston, but pops programing was quite popular at the turn of the 20th century and before.

A Sousa program would have consisted of light classics, popular songs and show tunes (many of which Sousa wrote himself a la John Williams). We have heard Radcliffe’s orchestra do some very ambitious work in the past and recall an occasion when a 19th century synthesizer was used to intensify the sound. Radcliffe is experimental and innovative in his approach and one can always expect some extra pyrotechnics. He did not disappoint us this time either.

The program consisted of works inspired by folk music and dance that was multi-ethnic. Radcliffe led off with a Rossini Overture that was impressively played and followed it with Dvorak’s Slavonic Dance Op. 46, No. 8 (one of the more lively numbers in this evocative suite).

Radcliffe is fun to watch. His kinetic gyrations were most evident in the Dvorak but he only enlivens proceedings thusly when it is appropriate. The late Dmitri Mitroupolis was overly physical and often fell right off the podium. Radcliffe’s feet enthusiastically left the floor at times but he was always in control. Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on Greensleeves followed it, and along with Faure’s Pavane Op. 50, brought a more solemn and sedate mood to the concert. The wind section was outstanding in these two pieces. An unfamiliar tarantelle by Camille Saint Saens proved to be a lively and lovely example of how versatile the French composer could be.

The Bizet Suite from Carmen featured “just right” vigorous tempi and playing that was, at the same time, abandoned and precise. The brass players took full advantage of Bizet’s proclivity for writing superbly for their instruments.

The final portion of the program consisted of two genuine Broadway classics in the form of selections from Gershwin’s folk opera Porgy and Bess and Bernstein’s West Side Story highlights. Both came in the form of fresh sounding and unfamiliar arrangements that featured innovative instrumental scoring that gave them new life. These evinced a standing ovation which was rewarded with an encore of Flimsy Korsetoff’s (pardon an old musician’s pun) Flight of the Bumble Bee which hummed right along.

It is a certainty that the audience felt that it had a grand night out, topped off with truly professional musicianship and the sponsors could openly glow with pride.

The whole affair added new vistas of cultural excellence that upheld the tradition of fine entertainment values exemplified by both cities.

CAPE MAY — The fifth annual Cape May Music Festival began May 15 and continues through June 26, hosting what is described as some of the world’s most accomplished soloists and chamber musicians in music from the Renaissance and Vivaldi to the jazz era.

The Festival Orchestra is conducted by Stephen Rogers Radcliffe. The festival is sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts (884-5404), in association with the Cape May Institute.