Critical Drubbing Dept.: A few weeks ago (in this piece), I recounted my journey from a snotty, full-of-himself critic to a somewhat less-snotty, still rather full–of-himself critic, and I cited a concert by James Galway as one of the turning points in my attitude. I tried searching for the actual review with no success; naturally, it sprang to light when I wasn’t looking for it at all. Like so much of what I had published in 1986 and earlier, the original computer files are long gone, so I’m relying here on a tearsheet that lingered in my files. I wish I’d gotten over berating the audience for applauding between movements by then; now I’m just happy to learn that we’re all awake. Here’s that review.
HIS GOLDEN FLUTE sparkling in the spotlight, James Galway dazzled a near-capacity crowd at Proctor's Theatre, where be performed with the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada Monday evening.
The first suite from Handel's Water Music was the opener. Galway has a lean but enthusiastic conducting style — not for him those flailing Bernstein arms — and he shaped his ideas along conventional and acceptible lines. The orchestra responded with appropriate energy, although there were the spotty problems that suggest a not-well-warmed-up group. There were no surprises in this very familiar work until the hornpipe movement busted loose with a wonderfully quirky but ompletely sensible rhythm; Galway probably has an Irish insight other conductors would be wise to learn.
The audience responded with dutiful applause at almost every break (this was true throughout the concert), and Galway acknowledged it each time with a wave. So much acclaim, while reassuring to the performers, is not an obligation; most conductors have things they do with their shoulders to signify when applause is expected.
The orchestra was thinned out a little to accompany a concerto in G Major by Karl Stamitz. Galway has the luxury of a master technician in being able to bend the rapid solo lines without sacrificing the pulse; in other worth, he can play as fast he wishes yet vary the speed here and there for virtuoso effect. And he likes to take the quick movements at quite a clip.
The Stamitz concerto gives the opportunity both for virtuosity and some exquisite slower stuff; the orchestra was rock-steady and unobtrusive.
Switching the two works listed for the second half, Galway began with Mozart's Concerto No. 2 in D Major. Here there is room for more interplay between soloist and ensemble, and it was fascinating to see how the flutist cued the section leaders with his instrument, playing to the different sides of his center-stage solo area.
Everything he does is tasteful. His playing never embraces virtuosity for its own sake: the music is always there, sometimes treated with whimsy. His cadenzas were never out of keeping with the piece. And his interpretive style as a conductor, while rather on the safe side, shows promise of originality.
Mozart's Symphony No. 36 closed the program and found the orchestra in superb shape. A crisp tempo and nice articulation combined with the kind of overall picture of the first movement (and the subsequent three) that leads to a dramatic finish were indications of a conductor who knows and loves his Mozart. My only quarrel was with Galway's tendency to lay it on heavy with the trumpets and tympani in the second and third movements. The finale was as exciting as if he had played it on his flute.
James Galway, flutist and conductor
The National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada
Proctor's Theatre, May 5
– Schenenctady Gazette, 7 May 1986
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