The Kantanti Ensemble wore its heart brazenly on its sleeve this afternoon with a joyous concert of symphonic dance music.
The first half was Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, a fiendishly complex work with wild percussion, complex jazz harmonies and varied tempi and timbres.
It was a daring move, and hats off to the multi-talented Lee Reynolds, Kantanti’s music director, for even attempting it. Scored for full orchestra, this piece was arranged for reduced forces by Reynolds himself––as is most of Kantanti’s repertoire–– and featured spectacular, virtuosic playing from the three percussionists. It worked well, but the best was yet to come.
The second half of the concert roared into life with a gloves-off reading of Gershwin’s Cuban Overture.
Written after a holiday in Cuba in 1932, and only five years before Gershwin’s premature death, this short but breathtaking and evocative work is one of his best and Kantanti performed it with conviction.
Danzón No. 2 by Arturo Marquez, a darker, more dangerous sounding piece, was played with veritable Latin style and verve.
The concert concluded with Reynold’s own brilliant arrangement of Gershwin’s I Got Rhythm and nearly brought the house down.
Five stars
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