When Jose-Luis Novo auditioned for conductorship of the Annapolis Symphony last fall in an exotic, off-the-beaten-path program of Ravel, Falla and Kodaly, a lot of folks wondered what he would sound like in the musical mainstream.
Last weekend, they got to hear him there as he returned to Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts as the new music director of the local orchestra for Wagner's Flying Dutchman Overture, Schubert's Unfinished Symphony, and the New World Symphony of Antonin Dvorak. Not for a single bar did the newcomer leave the core repertory.
As the search committee that hired him undoubtedly expected, Novo, 37, was as impressive at the center as he had been on the periphery. While there was nothing idiosyncratic (or strikingly individualistic) about his approach to either symphony, Novo made his presence felt with music-making that bodes well for the future of the orchestra.
Two things stood out Saturday evening.
The first is that Novo, who maintains a "second" musical career as a performing violinist, knows how to handle his fiddles. This hasn't been the smoothest of years for ASO violinists, who have not thrived amid turnover in the string section and on the podium, as conductors came and went in the talent search that led to Novo's hiring.
This time around, all was well, with an expressive brand of uniformity emerging from the first and second violins in lyrical and stormy passages alike. They sounded like a different group altogether.
The other message delivered in Novo's first concerts at the ASO helm is that he isn't adverse to pulling out the stops when a big, juicy orchestral sound is indicated.
I always felt that Leslie Dunner, Novo's predecessor who is now based in Chicago as music director of the Joffery Ballet, was a little careful in this regard. Dunner seemed to value rhythmic buoyancy and precision above all else, which made for airy, energetic performances that could sometimes be short of breadth.
Early returns indicate that won't be the case during the Novo era.
When it was time to unleash his players, whether in the dark, tautly conceived forte passages in Schubert's opening movement to the Unfinished, or for the expansive emotionalism of Dvorak's New World, he didn't hesitate to embrace the weighty excitement packed into these much-loved (and different) scores.
Apparently, Novo was a popular choice among ASO musicians, because they've played with passion and verve both times he's led them. That energy continued into a peppy Slavonic Dance (Dvorak again) offered up as an encore at Saturday's concert.
Only in Wagner's Dutchman did I sense a lack of sure-footedness as the occasional climax failed to jell. Still, as the horns and strings were having at it in the stormy opening bars, a sound big and bold enough even for Wagner filled the hall.
From the beginning, the overwhelming sensation was that the orchestra had found themselves the right guy.
