I have not been a fan of Ernest Hemingway’s writing — too many short sentences and too much toxic masculinity. I’m having to rethink that assessment after hearing cellist Zuill Bailey’s dynamic performance of Michael Daugherty’s “Tales of Hemingway for Cello and Orchestra” Sunday, Oct. 18.
Bailey perfectly performed the piece with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra at the Collins Center for the Arts in Orono. It was the centerpiece of the symphony’s concert titled “Force of Nature” that opened its 131st season.
Daugherty composed what has been called “a sonic portrait” of the author’s best known works for Bailey in 2015. Since then, the cellist has performed it more than 60 times. In four movements, it vividly brings to life Hemingway’s novels, “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” “The Old Man and the Sea,” “The Sun Also Rises” and the short story “Big Two-Hearted River.”
This piece requires the cellist to pluck and strum strings and tap the body of Bailey’s instrument, a rare Matteo Gofriller cello built in 1693. At times Sunday, Bailey appeared to be wrestling rather than dancing with the music. He is a charismatic performer who channels the notes with his entire body and appears to conquer rather than conjure them, something Daugherty requires of a soloist. Playing “Tales of Hemingway” for a celllist is akin to athletes running the Appalachian Trail, or so it seemed Sunday.
Conductor and Music Director Lucas Richman and the orchestra embraced this unorthodox concerto with gusto and precision. It was an incredibly memorable performance.
Also on the program were Peggy Stuart Coolidge’s “New England Autumn,” which musically reflected the vibrant colors of the leaves outside and a country fair. The concert concluded with a lovely interpretation of Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 2 in C major.
This season, the orchestra is partnering with the Gracie Theatre at Husson University to offer a chamber music series featuring guest artists and BSO musicians. The Gracie, which seats 490 compared with the Collins Center’s 1,435, is an intimate space that allowed the audience to get up close and personal with the players on Oct. 19.
Concertmaster Mitchell Newman (violin), Simon Bilyk (violin), Laura Gallucci (viola) and Noreen Silver (cello) joined Bailey on stage for Franz Schubert’s String Quintet in C major, a rare chamber music piece featuring two cellos. Bailey opened the concert with Johann Sebastian Bach’s Solo Sonata and a piece by Pablo Casals, considered to be one of the greatest cellists of all time.
This series, which will feature guest violinist Julian Rhee at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 1 and soprano Natalia Santaliz and mezzo-soprano Erin Wagner at 6:30 p.m. April 22, is a welcome addition to the symphony’s offerings. It’s an opportunity to hear some beautiful music and see how musicians bring it to life.
Sunday’s concert, “Force of Nature,” may be streamed through Nov. 6 at watch.bangorsymphony.org.