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0Fiu Festival Dishes Up SomeSeldom-heard Musical TreatsOctober 27, 2001 | By Alan Becker SPEcial Correspondent

The gala opening of the FIU Music Festival at the Gusman Center on Thursday is a perfect example ofhow South Florida festivals allow us to experience music rarely heard at regular concerts .

Conductor Carlos Piantini opened the program with the ever fresh Roman Carnival Overture by Berlioz. Inthe first few moments the violins seemed wiry and somewhat tentative of true pitch; this was quicklydispelled and the rest of the evening showed just how well the students of the FIU Symphony Orchestracan play. English horn player Bozar Guzman phrased his famous solo beautifully.

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The Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra by Armenian composer Alexander Arutiunian (often spelledArutunian) is not the most subtle of compositions. A curious amalgam of Khachaturian vulgarity withRimsky-Korsakov lyricism, it actually works quite well. Famed trumpeter Arturo Sandoval blazed throughthe piece with total abandon and even provided a second, more virtuosic, cadenza as an encore.

Fredrick Kaufman, artistic director of the festival and head of the School of Music , has produced asizeable body of works. The Catalan Concertante for String Orchestra was originally written for guitarquartet, then string quartet. The string orchestra version, receiving its premiere Thursday, is yet anotherrevision of the piece. While initially inspired by a folk melody being sung by a child in Spain, there isnothing that simple in the work. This is gritty stuff, frequently polytonal in the manner of Darius Milhaud,and at times even Bartok pokes through in the rhythmic intricacies. While somewhat derivative, Kaufmanstrikes out in his own direction, producing a muscular composition of considerable appeal.

The rarely heard Liszt/Busoni Rhapsody Espagnol for piano and orchestra featured Cuban pianistZenaida Manfugas in a powerhouse of a performance. This former student of Ernesto Lecuona andWalter Gieseking tore up the keyboard with a virtuosity seldom encountered. With the sparkling clarity andmusicality of her mentors, Manfugas brought the house to its feet.

Manfugas remained on stage to play the important piano part in Beethoven's Choral Fantasy, whichconcluded the program. The Miami Master Chorale, after a tentative start, acquitted themselves well butthe show once again belonged to Manfugas, who succeeded in holding this almost shapeless piecetogether. Conductor Piantini proved more than competent in all of his varied assignments.

FIU Music Festival 2001 continues with Monkey See, Monkey Do, a children's opera by Robert X.Rodriguez, at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Wertheim Performing Arts Center, 10910 SW 17th St., and 2 p.m.

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Sunday at FIU's Biscayne Bay campus, 3000 NE 151st St. A performance in Spanish will be presented at2 p.m. Saturday at Wertheim. Tickets are $10, $5 for children. Call the box office at 305-348-1998.

Alan Becker is a Fort Lauderdale-based freelance writer.

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