Niagara Symphony has a horse race on its hands!

When I last wrote in this space, just prior to Sunday's third Masters concert with the Niagara Symphony, I suggested with such a distinguished musical pedigree, it will be interesting to see how that will translate in front of the orchestra and audience as Diane Whittry takes the podium. She is, of course, the fourth and final candidate to publicly audition for the vacant Music Director's position with the Niagara Symphony. We have seen the other three gentlemen at least once so far, but Diane was considered a wild card of sorts, since we had not seen her at all before Sunday's performance.

Well, judging from Diane's sparkling Masters concert debut, we now have a genuine horse race here. I must say, though, all four candidates have impressed, and it is frankly good to see so much strong young conducting talent out there, especially those wanting to lead the Symphony. But while the three gentlemen have ranged from merely competent to very impressive, this reporter has found Ms. Whittry to be downright exceptional. If her Pops performance in May is even half as good as her Masters debut, we are in for a real treat.

Let's start with the musical introductions. No cue cards, no dry analytical descriptions. Diane's introductions were relaxed, informal, informed and entertaining. They were also brief enough not to bore you and long enough to get the point across. We knew we were in for something special when she explained T. Patrick Carrabre's ubiquitous Chase the Sun to such an extent it actually was interesting to listen to again. Here was an American taking such an interest in a Canadian composer, I am sure many in the audience found out things about Carrabre we never knew before. We also found out there are words tied to the music, which she cleverly decided to project on a screen above the orchestra to help with the appreciation of the piece. I am still not a big fan of the piece, but at least now I have a much greater appreciation of it and the composer.

The explanation of John Rutter's Suite Antique was equally informative, and the orchestra played the quiet music with more intensity than we are accustomed to hearing. Flute soloist Douglas Miller gave his customary polished approach to the solo passages, and Diane even let Doug do a solo encore that totally blew many away in the audience. The Handel Water Music was very competently played, if not particularly memorable, but it was the Beethoven Symphony No. 7 that really sealed the deal for many on Sunday, I suspect.

It is always wonderful to watch the high-wire act of a conductor conducting a major work without the score, and Diane did that with the Beethoven on Sunday. Clearly she knows the work inside out and what the many nuances are, and she finessed the work to such an extent you could imagine almost any larger-market orchestra onstage on Sunday. While John Morris Russell managed to create a larger-than-life sound with his Beethoven No. 5 last season, this No. 7 in the hands of Whittry and Co. was much more natural, much more in keeping with what Beethoven himself likely had in mind.

Overall, the Symphony played with assurance and confidence, with the strings in particular sounding better than I have ever heard them before. Oh sure, there were a few bad notes beyond the strings, but overall, the Symphony appeared to be responding to Diane and she was taking us all along on a musical joyride. Even the placement of the violins onstage made for a different sound altogether, and although I am sure some of the musicians were out of their comfort zone, the end result was a richer, more balanced sound for the audience. Such attention to detail has separated Diane from the rest of the pack.

The verdict? Well, we won't know anything until the end of the season, of course, but as I said earlier, she has another opportunity to impress with her Pops performances in May. If she does, she will have to be considered the frontrunner for the position of Music Director of the Niagara Symphony. She is an accomplished musician in every sense of the word, able to communicate her thoughts to our musicians and the audience members as a whole; let's hope, though, if she does win the post, she stays for awhile. I think we'll all be the better for it.

January 27th, 2010.