The Auburn Symphony, conducted by Peter Jaffe, is a star of musical perfection in Placer County.  Last night they played a varied program, going from thunderous Wagner, to playful, polite, intricate Mozart, to gigantic Sibelius.  They played so skillfully, it is impossible to really describe.  The music filled the auditorium with light, thunder, oceans, colors, taking everyone to places in their minds they couldn’t imagine until being there. 

The opening piece was Wagner’s "Prelude" to Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, ("Prelude" to The Master Singers of Nürnberg).   The orchestra got off to a fast, exciting start.   The violinists played furiously, dipping and pulling in unison the music from their instruments.  Just as the excitement level had reached the heights and above, a bucolic passage swept in, followed by forceful marching.  When the chamber was filled with sound, a sudden change occurred, quietness came upon us, then music built again to sweeping sounds from violins, running and racing.  The horns joined, blending beautifully, barging in, another turn and they swept everyone to new places filled with lilting melody.  It was grand.  At the conclusion, the audience breathed in the air it needed, one large communal breath, before rising to their feet in gratitudinous applause for the sounds of Wagner they had just experienced.   What an opening.

The second piece on the program was Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat major.  For this the orchestra was reconfigured to bring front and center the four featured musicians and instruments:  Curtis Kidwell, oboe; Patty Wassum, clarinet; Christopher Jones, horn; and Cathleen Williams, bassoon.  Towering conductor, Peter Jaffe, stepped to the box, stretched out his long arms and brought us a totally different sound and mood from that which we had just heard.    The Mozart piece was played in a light, controlled, playful fashion, with intricate clarinet and oboe runs, complicated bassoon, and solid horn.  The bassoon and horn brought out their lower, mellow tones, the clarinet and oboe the lighter, dancing, trilling sounds.  The four instruments, with the orchestra supporting them, were in constant conversation with each other.  This was the audience’s chance to really hear the different harmonics of these instruments.  Bouquets of flowers were given to these four fine musicians, as proud conductor Jaffe, smiled on. 

The intermission arrived before anyone was ready for it, so fast did the beautiful music pass before us.  When we returned for the second half, the full orchestra was assembled once more for the upcoming piece by the Finnish master.  Conductor Jaffe said a few words to the audience explaining it, and asked the orchestra play two snippets of the piece to enhance his exposition.  We settled back to listen.

I can’t say enough about this unusual piece of thrilling music to adequately describe the variety of moods and sounds, the places the music travelled, lulled, waited, and sprang out into the open.  The absolute best way to listen to the Auburn Symphony play Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2 in D major, is with one’s eyes closed.  Let Sibelius, through the talent of these musicians, take you on a sound voyage through quiet woods where creatures lurk and threaten, to riversides with brief respites of calm, to fields of fear and dismay, to determined riders and ensuing struggles.  It’s all there.  The colors are marvelous, the thunder, the sun returning.  We enjoyed wonderful work by Art Green on tuba, rolling sounds from Aaron Smith, timpani, creatures sneaking through forest thanks to the plucking of cellos and basses, with horns in the far off fields.  The end of the second movement leaves us in a dark place.  But finally evil is vanquished and the smoother, sweeter sounds triumph, and the bucolic returns, peace returns.  The woodwinds usher in gentle breezes.  With all the tugs of war in the world today, Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2 is very contemporary. 

If as many audience members did, one chooses to watch the musicians as they perform, one would have seen violinists, violists, cellists, bassists, the whole string section playing fast and furiously.  The musicians must all be geniuses to be able to bring this extremely difficult, complex work of the Scandinavian master to the audience in Auburn.  And this audience knew it Saturday night, for they rose in unison when the final note was played and conductor Jaffe swept his hand over the players for them to stand and receive their much-deserved applause.  This was an exhausting evening of marvelous music, exhausting in the best sense of the word, as one is drained of emotion after such a wild and intense ride.  Thank you, Auburn Symphony, and the sponsors who make these concerts possible.  This is a marvelous cultural gift right here in the foothills of California.