Hillary Hauser and Zuill Bailey
Paris, The City of Lights was the inspiration behind Santa Barbara Symphony’s programming of this weekend’s concert at The Granada Theatre. Each work had a connection to this city’s cultural life including Saint-Saen’s first cello concerto Op. 33, performed by Zuill Bailey on a 1693 Matteo Gofriller – which produced an otherworldly sound that strips the heart bare. But Zuill could achieve the same result on a cigar box strung with guitar wire.
When American cellist Zuill Bailey was a student at Music Academy of the West’s summer classical music festival in Santa Barbara, he was in his early 20’s. Within a week of being there word of his talent spread and people flocked to hear him play in concerts and master classes. One look at his photograph is a good reason why. Another is his exceedingly friendly, gracious persona. But the most important reason is the way he plays the cello.
Bailey and the cello were made for one another as his sound has earned him the reputation of being “one of the greatest living cellists.” He won a Grammy Award for his playing in the recent recording “Tales of Hemingway,” by composer Michael Daugherty. He also serves as Artistic Director of El Paso Pro-Musica (Texas), Sitka Summer Music Festival/Series and Cello Seminar (Alaska) and is professor of cello at the University of Texas at El Paso, among other posts. Of course, he performs a wide- ranging repertoire as soloist and with orchestras worldwide.
His interpretation of the Saint-Saens cello concerto under Nir Kabaretti was worth waiting for, this being the orchestra’s final program of the season. He opened the principal theme with a sweet and searing tone that could pierce the heart. Conductor Kabaretti provided a fine and sensitive balance and the crowd went into an uproar. Then Bailey came back on stage for an encore, the Meditation from Thais by Massenet, which everyone has heard a million times – but not like this.
With harp accompaniment (Allison Allport) the familiar melody unfolded – the one that signifies the conversion of Thais from courtesan to servant of God in Massenet’s memorable opera. Bailey’s performance pulled tears out of your eyes. Maestro Kabaretti, now in his 11th season as Artistic Director of the Santa Barbara Symphony, has crafted the orchestra into a tight knit ensemble with fine musical backbone, an admirable feat considering many of the group’s musicians are contracted from outside the area.
The opening work, Mozart’s so-called “Paris” symphony provided a nice warm up but the orchestra showed its musical muscle in Les preludes of Liszt, spinning exciting passagework from the brass and horns in rich Wagnerian style. The concert ended with Gershwin’s An American in Paris that proved rousing, jazzy, familiar and fun. The audience erupted as if it was midnight on New Year’s Eve – a fitting farewell to the season.
It should be noted that during intermission, Zuill Bailey signed some of his CD’s and the line of audience members waiting to meet, greet, talk, and have photos taken with him was reminiscent of the fervor he created 27 years earlier at the Music Academy of the West.
Hillary Hauser is co-founder and Executive Director of Heal the Ocean in Santa Barbara. She has written numerous books and articles about underwater adventures for publications such as National Geographic, Reader’s Digest, Skin Diver Magazine and the Los Angeles Times. She was classical music critic for the Santa Barbara News-Press from 1981-1996 and in 2000 co-created the Tavros Records label, of which releases of Chopin and Rachmaninoff received acclaim from the Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music and Clavier magazine.