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Symphony season opens Sept. 8


By Jenine Baines


MOBILE - Scott Speck, music director of the Mobile Symphony Orchestra, is like most conductors of his artistry and renown. He spends a good deal of time traveling to foreign cities.

Pip Clarke
This past summer, however, when Speck spent a month in St. Petersburg, Russia, he wasn't conducting. He was studying. And, on Sept. 8, when the Mobile Symphony Orchestra presents its Opening Night program - which will include what is arguably Modest Mussorgsky's most popular work, "Pictures at an Exhibition" - the audience at the Saenger Theatre, 6 S. Joachim St. in Mobile, will reap the benefit of those long summer hours he devoted to enhancing his mastery of Russian music.

"‘Pictures at an Exhibition' is such a uniquely Russian piece, full of wildly diverging emotions and characters," the conductor explains. "Each ‘picture' comes to life so vividly in the hands of Mussorgsky and Ravel, who later orchestrated the work. My study of the piece included delving deeply into each character, each musical description."

Speck became so absorbed in his studies that he made a pilgrimage, with the "Pictures" score in hand, to Mussorgsky's grave at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery.

With a veritable Who's Who of Russian composers buried there - Glinka, Tchaikovsky, Borodin and Rimsky Korsakov, to name but a few - the monastery is truly a hallowed place for musicians like Speck.

"Don't even get me started on how exciting this was for me," Speck laughs.

The Mobile Symphony will share the excitement of its music director's recent pilgrimage by offering the audience a tour of its own on Opening Night, with "stops" in Rome and Hollywood as well as Russia.

The concert will open at 8 p.m. with Hector Berlioz' "Roman Carnival Overture" - inspired by themes Berlioz first used in his opera Benvenuto Cellini, which include the carnival scene that gives the overture its name - then continue to Hollywood, for a performance of film composer Erich Korngold's "Violin Concerto," featuring violinist Pip Clarke who will perform the same work at Carnegie Hall a month later.

"This piece is Pip's specialty," says Speck, "and I don't know anyone alive who inhabits the piece more convincingly than she does. Korngold wrote it for Jascha Heifetz, and Pip has a similar sizzling, intense quality in her playing. Pip has a very distinctive sound. When you hear her play, you know it's her. In this age of young, carbon copy virtuosi, that's high praise indeed."

Critics resoundingly agree. Of a recent performance, the Anchorage Daily News wrote, "Clarke's sensual shaping of the highly atmospheric lines and her flashy technique in the finale were electrifying." Added the Glasgow Herald, "The beautiful violinist is as good to listen to as she is to watch."

The Opening Night musical tour will not end with the concert, however. Afterwards, audience members are invited to visit the lobby, to view works in a variety of media created by local artists affiliated with the Cathedral Square Gallery in Mobile. The only "prerequisite" for any oeuvre was that it must have a musical theme, albeit not necessarily classical. Thus, jazz and rock inspired works will be on display as well.

Nevertheless, the gallery did have a CD of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" on hand in its studios to provide artists with inspiration on their "workdays." In fact, for many Mobile Symphony enthusiasts, the exhibition's highpoint - literally - may well be the 4-by-6-foot computer-generated canvas of Music Director Scott Speck, hung from the lobby balcony.

Patrons particularly captivated by a painting or sculpture, or perhaps even the conductor's canvas, will be able to purchase the work. Better yet, artists have agreed to contribute 40 percent of the purchase price to the Mobile Symphony to benefit its music education programs.

"‘The Pictures at an Exhibition' event showcases more than the artistry of our local residents," says Stephen Hedrick, executive director of the Mobile Symphony. "It illustrates our community's love of great music and generous commitment to sharing that love with generations to come."

For more information about the Mobile Symphony Orchestra, its performances and educational outreach programs, visit the orchestra's Web site at www.mobilesymphony.org.

To purchase tickets ($15-$55), call (251) 432-7080 or order online.

The Mobile Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1970 as the Symphony Concerts of Mobile. Its mission was to present world-class touring orchestras such as Alabama Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra for six evening concerts.

In 1996, the board of directors decided that to serve the educational, quality of life, and economic development needs of the community, it should create its own orchestra of local professional musicians.

Today, the Mobile Symphony Orchestra, under Music Director Scott Speck, is the premiere producer of live symphonic music in the Gulf Coast region. It is committed to enhancing the lives of every member of the community by achieving the highest standards in live symphonic music and music education.