George Hanson's fingers glided lightly over the keyboard a few minutes into the first movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 17.
No dramatic flourishes or grand gestures to announce his presence as piano soloist. Just a soft, understated introduction to set the tone.
Hanson understands that Mozart's concerto is not a blast of pianistic gymnastics. It is lush, elegant, at times teetering on muscular, only to pull itself back to a place somewhere in between a grand-ball waltz and all-out lovely.
So he played it with a gentle touch that grew more assertive as the piece built in the second and third movements.
Thursday's performance was Hanson's second turn at the keyboard since taking the baton for the Tucson Symphony Orchestra a dozen years ago. His first was two years ago during a MasterWorks concert at Catalina Foothills High School, performing Mozart's 23rd Piano Concerto.
We are not used to seeing our conductor casually dressed in black slacks and a shimmering, dark-colored shirt, untucked, sitting behind an instrument that he mastered in his youth but rarely plays in public. It was a delicious experience, one worthy of savoring.
Hanson also conducted the orchestra in between playing, often with subtle flicks of his left hand while sitting at the bench. But we're used to his conducting prowess. It was his playing that captured the audience's imagination.
Hanson displayed admirable technical skills. He produced a radiant, sumptuous tone and an air of intimacy that defied the Music Hall's size and the 1,350 people in the audience. Yet his performance had that huge-concert feel to it. When he swayed on the bench, his hands dancing with grace and precision during an extended solo passage in the second movement, all eyes from the audience and the stage were on him. The inspired moment cast Hanson in the role of physical music-maker, an equal among those musicians he leads with his baton.
The concert kicked off the orchestra's Viennese Festival of four events that concludes with TSO Concertmaster Steven Moeckel performing Berg's Violin Concerto in early February.
Thursday's concert also featured an exquisite performance of Brahms' Fourth Symphony. Hanson, who had returned to the stage in his customary conductor's uniform of suitcoat and slacks, let the Brahms stand on its own accord. It was, he told the audience beforehand, the composer's final symphony — his last frustrated attempt to hold on as the landscape of music as he knew it was yanked from beneath him. There are mixed emotions throughout, from joy and exuberance introduced by the strings playing pizzicato in the first movement, to bursts of anger born from the deep rumble of Kimberly Toscano's timpani and the low moan from the brass section.
The orchestra also had a surprise up its sleeve. As the audience stood in ovation, shouting "Bravo!" and clapping with enthusiasm, Hanson and the orchestra lit into Strauss' delightful and elegant Kaiser-Walzer (aka Emperor Waltz).
Moments into it, with the house lights dimmed, a pair of smartly dressed dancers — Mike Sodden, dressed in 19th-century tails and a top hat over his black tights, and Caitlin Trowlbridge, with elbow-length red gloves and a period waistcoat — waltzed on stage. For the rest of the performance, the pair — freshman dance majors at the University of Arizona — performed a ballet waltz from end to end of the stage front as the orchestra played.
Review
Tucson Symphony Orchestra Thursday at Tucson Music Hall. Concert repeats at 2 p.m. Sunday. The musicians continue to play without a ratified contract.
