Zuill Bailey

In general, I don’t think it would be a good idea for me to comment on our concerts in this blog. My perspective in the viola section is limited, first of all, and second, I don’t want to get into any trouble. :)

However, this weekend’s concert with Zuill Bailey was such an amazing experience, I can’t resist sharing a few thoughts. Please feel free to add your own in the “comments” section. Whenever I see Patty Thayer, Mother of the Blog, she says “I know people are reading, they’re just not commenting!” So, please do go ahead and make Patty’s day by leaving a comment. I’d appreciate it too. If you’re not sure about what you’d like to write, here’s a suggested template: “David Hennessee is a brilliant writer because ________.” :)

Seriously, and more apropos to this blog, try “Zuill Bailey is a brilliant musician because ________.”

It goes without saying that all the soloists who visit the San Luis Obispo Symphony are wonderful musicians, but for me there’s something remarkable about a cello soloist. To me, watching and listening to a really fine cellist is like peering behind the wizard’s curtain and finding an actual wizard there.

Maybe it’s that the instrument is almost as large as they are and they embrace it like a lover. Or maybe it’s like looking inside a piano while it’s being played… you get a real sense of the physicality of making music… it’s not just sound; it’s arms, legs, fingers, breath, sweat…

So, Saturday night, backstage at intermission everyone was frantically spreading the word: “He’s going to sit down, put the endpin in, and start playing, so be ready.” I felt like a spy: “the cellist plays at once. The crow flies at night.” I thought, OK, big deal, we’re starting right away.

Well, it was a big deal. When Zuill Bailey launched immediately into the Saint-Saens concerto, I felt a surge of energy I’d never experienced in a concert hall. He held us in the palm of his hand and didn’t let go. Gorgeous singing tone in all registers, impeccable technique, tasteful phrasing, thoughtful interpretation, huge dynamic range. He’s a rock star.

After the initial jolt, in the Saint-Saens I was too busy counting and trying to figure out the French rest notations (is that 3 or 5 bars rest? Is that a quarter rest, or an eight rest?) to notice a lot of specifics. The muted middle section I thought was lovely – elegant, music-box-like. Zuill’s parts there were delicate and subtle. The viola part in the Tchaikovsky is less difficult, so I could pay closer attention to Zuill’s playing, and I was blown away by his range of expression, at turns elegant and courtly, plaintive, whimsical, rustic, depending on what the music asked, and that piece asks a lot, both musically and technically. His thumb position work was particularly impressive; his articulation up in the stratosphere was crystalline. How cellists can do that, I’ll never know.

One thing I do know is that principal French horn Jane Swanson nailed her solo at the beginning of the Tchaikovsky. It was note-perfect and melancholy – a lovely introduction for the piece.
I thought Mike’s conducting was brilliant, as always, with all the clarity and fire we’ve come to expect, and I’m sure that his joking with Zuill at the dress rehearsal and concert showed concertgoers that classical music concerts aren’t such stuffy affairs.

Here’s a video I think you'll enjoy about Zuill Bailey’s recently released CD, Russian Masterpieces, on which he plays Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich.



We get to hear and see yet another master of the cello – Lynn Harrell – this fall. I hear he might persuaded to do some master classes. Here are a couple of previews of what those might be like:







I thought the Mahler (March 7th at the PAC) would be the highlight of the season for me, and maybe it will, but it would be hard to beat Saturday’s concert. I’ve seldom seen such an enthusiastic standing ovation. What a privilege to have helped make the music that gave so many such joy.

DH

PS. The inevitable viola joke:
Why did the violist give up learning a transcription of the “Rococo Variations”?
He couldn’t figure out how to do thumb position on viola.