Q+A: David Commanday

Thursday, Oct. 12, 2006 | 7:25 a.m.

What: Masterworks I, featuring conductor David Commanday and violinist Lara St. John

Where: Artemus Ham Hall, UNLV

When: 8 p.m. Saturday. Preconcert lecture by Commanday at 7:15 p.m.

Tickets: $27 to $69; 895-2787

In his first two days in town, conductor David Commanday rehearsed with the Las Vegas Philharmonic, toured the valley via helicopter and met with members of the small but passionate world of classical music here.

The musical director for the Peoria Symphony Orchestra is one of three candidates vying to replace the Las Vegas symphony's co-founder Hal Weller, who is retiring at the end of the season. Commanday is first in line as guest conductor.

Dressed in a salmon-colored polo shirt and loose khaki pants, a relaxed and affable Commanday slowed down enough Tuesday afternoon to talk with the Las Vegas Sun about this weekend's concert.

Saturday's program is a blockbuster with Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and the overture to Rossini's "Barber of Seville." Violinist Lara St. John also will join the orchestra for John Corigliano's "The Red Violin" chaconne and Pablo de Sarasate's "Ziguenerweisen."

His thick head of hair and stylishly cropped beard make him look younger than his resume suggests. Commanday, who was schooled at Harvard, studied in Vienna and led many orchestras, including the Greater Boston Youth Symphony, won't divulge his age.

Why the helicopter?

Rather than four or five hours in a car, they thought that a helicopter would be preferable, and it was.

What is your overall impression of Las Vegas?

It's a place of energy. It's all about energy. The plane touches down and it's, "Oh, we've gotten to summer camp." And it's not just the tourists. I think the people here have to have that kind of energy to offer it.

Your program has Beethovens Fifth Symphony, music from The Red Violin and the lovely and talented Lara St. John. You must have put a lot of work into this.

Everybody has to understand that the concert is a result of a negotiation. Hal Weller's responsibility is to make the season make sense. I proposed a number of programs, but most of them didn't fit.

They had been performed before. So we went looking around, and this is what came out of it.

It has a range of emotions, a range of colors, a range of textures. Musically, it's hard, fast, slow, soft. A program should create a slice of life.

It has a personal connection because I studied in Vienna and it was the first thing that was put in front of me by my professor.

It was time for it. This community is ripe for Beethoven.

That evolved out of a search for a soloist and a solution. I became aware that this is a piece she does. And I had been looking for an opportunity to perform with her for a couple of years. She's a terrific person, a wonderful violinist.

Describe the music from The Red Violin that she will be performing.

It's passionate. It speaks a musical language that everyone will respond to immediately. It communicates as soon as you hear it. It's a language everyone will understand.

Thoughts on the philharmonic musicians?

The first thing important to a conductor is who the people are. Who they are and where they want to go artistically is more important than how fast they play at this moment. They aspire to excellence and that came through loud and clear.

You talk about the energy here. How does that transfer to classical music?

Everyone I'm talking to is really excited about making and imagining the philharmonic's dreams come true. You have 1.8 million people here, and those people need a great orchestra.

Will that happen?

Las Vegas is transforming itself and the world is noticing. Parisians are flying in for shopping. People are flying here for meals. The goal is to have them fly here for the sake of a symphony performance.