Rei Hotoda and the Fresno Philharmonic, along with piano favorite Joyce Yang, offer a jazzy (and virtuosic) finale to a strong season

May 31, 2024

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By Donald Munro

You can rent anything, it seems – even a perfectly pitched taxi horn.

When the Fresno Philharmonic performs Gershwin’s famed “An American in Paris” this weekend at Shaghoian Hall (7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 1, and 3 p.m. Sunday, June 2), conductor Rei Hotoda and the orchestra will be presenting what’s called the “critical edition” of the piece, the authoritative transcription of the composer’s handwritten score.

And that requires an extremely specialized percussion instrument.

“George Gershwin actually had specific pitches for the taxi horns,” Hotoda says, marveling at the precision. “And with the taxi horns being pitched, they’re within the chord now. So it’s not just this random sound, but he was really trying to evoke the sound of his time, trying to encapsulate his era.”

This weekend’s concert is titled “Boléro Blowout,” and it concludes a creatively programmed, richly diverse and emotionally powerful season for the orchestra that flirted with the theme of jazz. Gershwin was a big fan of the composer Maurice Ravel, and the program pairs “An American in Paris” with Ravel’s famed “Boléro.” Also on the program is the fiendishly difficult Barber piano concerto, which features Fresno favorite Joyce Yang on the keyboard.

Here’s a rundown:

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More on the Gershwin: Most orchestras perform a version of “An American in Paris” edited by editor Frank Campbell Watson, a composer and staff editor for Warner Bros., Hotoda says. The “critical edition” came after much research. The version being played by the Fresno Philharmonic feels more symphonic than past versions, Hotoda says. “We often think of it as a soundtrack to a movie (1951’s ‘An American in Paris,’ starring Gene Kelly). By composing his first concert orchestral work Gershwin gave considerable and careful attention to the craft of the composition.”

The Ravel connection: The story goes that Gershwin, upon arriving in Paris, went to meet Ravel and ask him for lessons. After an initial session, the French composer said he could not teach him, saying, “Why be a second-rate Ravel when you can be a first-rate Gershwin?”

About those taxi horns: How do you play them? Just squeeze. They came from L.A. Percussion Rentals, which offers all sorts of oddball instruments only needed for one particular piece of music. Says Hotoda: “Gershwin’s notation of the taxi horn in his handwritten score is not specific. With further research and based on Gershwin’s 1929 recording, there are four specific taxi horn pitches that make harmonic and melodic contributions to the piece rather than just auxiliary sound effects.”

Barber’s piano concerto: Fresno audiences are familiar with Yang, the internationally acclaimed pianist, from her past performances with the Fresno Philharmonic and the Philip Lorenz International Keyboard Concerts series. (In fact, Yang just performed for Keyboard in April.) Yang mentioned she’d liked to perform Barber piece – which is noted for its difficulty and is not in the repertoire of many classical pianists – Hotoda readily agreed. As Stephen Wilson, the orchestra’s executive director and CEO, puts it: “If we’re going to do the Barber, Joyce is the person to do it.”

How tough is the Barber? “It’s a pianist’s nightmare, actually,” Hotoda says. “I even thought of learning it at one point when I was at USC. And I thought, there’s no way I could play this.” The piece isn’t often programmed. That Yang was able to add it to her repertoire is impressive. Hotoda is intrigued by the mood and feel of the piece, ranging from “gorgeous” to angular and dramatic, with parts of it comparable to a Bernard Herrmann score for a Hitchcock movie. “It really feels like the ‘50s in a way,” Hotoda muses. “It reminds me of mid-century architecture movies – there’s an element of film music in it.”

It’s tough for the orchestra, too: The last movement is in a very odd meter (5/8) the entire time. It’s almost as if the soloist never plays on the downbeat – and that goes for the other musicians as well. “It’s challenging, and I love a challenge,” Hotoda says.

The Ravel: There was a time when all you had to say was the movie “10” and Bo Derek, and a generation of moviegoers could instantly hum “Bolero.” That widespread recognition may have diminished, but this famed 1928 piece is far more than a film score.

Hotoda’s advice: Pay attention to the way the piece builds almost imperceptibly. “You’ll hear how it grows ever so slightly in instrumentation. You’ll keep hearing different instruments added. It’s like modern art – you don’t really see it until you are really looking at it and thinking about it. It’s like Chuck Close – you see all those dots, but then you keep going further and further back, and all of a sudden you see a face.”

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Brief thoughts on the season: I attended every Masterworks concert and walked away from each feeling as if I’d experienced a carefully curated, emotionally complicated and beautifully delivered program. Among my favorites was the orchestra’s February concert, which gave us a stirring mental image of a burning California in Gabriela Lena Frank’s work “Contested Eden.” At the beginning of the piece, the orchestra embraced the quiet of the forest. Then I could nearly recoiled at the blocks of dissonance that interrupted the placid, regal forest in my mind. I sensed the menace there, the undercurrent of anxiety, like some nocturnal creature bristling. The strings swelled, and then the brass opened up like a wall of flame. Ending the piece, a plaintive piccolo line ascended, perhaps representing a bird? It was a beautiful and moving moment that reminded me that no matter how ravaged the world gets, there’s a chance of rebirth. Also on that February program: Mahler’s 4th Symphony, in what I considered a triumphant performance, ranging from lush and jaunty to a “Dance of Death” that brought to mind mortality. In the final movement, a child’s view of Heaven was sweeping — full of hope and bombast — and yet tinged with sadness. Hotoda’s choice to pair it with the Frank piece made the program the most sensitive and introspective of the season.

Looking ahead: The next season, which is the Fresno Philharmonic’s 70th, hasn’t yet been officially announced to the public (unless you’re a season ticket holder). The theme is “Symphonic Collage.” It includes what Hotoda calls a “kaleidoscope” of cultures, including an opening Masterworks concert (Sept. 28-29) in tribute to the orchestra’s Armenian heritage (and featuring noted Armenian pianist Sergei Babayan), a Bernstein/Mahler concert opening with Nkeiru Okoye’s “Voices Shouting Out” in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan. 18-19) and a final concert (April 12-13) featuring the Brahms Symphony No. 1 and Indian tabla master Sandeep Das. Throughout, Hotoda continues her tradition of prominently featuring women composers.

The big project: On Feb. 15, the orchestra presents the world premiere of a new work by California composers Hitomi Oba and Erika Oba inspired by the life and writings of Mas Masumoto, the author and organic peach farmer. Paired with Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 9, which Hotoda calls a “fantastic piece,” and the world-renowned pianist Barry Douglas performing the ever-popular Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2, it’s sure to be a highlight event of the season.