La Musica Chamber Music Festival’s 40th Season concluded April 9 at the Sarasota Opera House with “2 Carnivals, 1 World Premiere,” a boisterous and soulful party celebrating the beauty of the animal spirit. 

The program featured a 10-piece ensemble, including Artistic Director and pianist Wu Han, performing Antonio Vivaldi’s Concerto in D Major for Flute, Strings, and Continuo, RV 428 (“Il gardellino”); Osvaldo Golijov’s Mariel for Cello and Marimba; the world premiere of Michael Stephen Brown’s “The Carnival of Endangered Wonders: A Zoological Fantasy”; and Camille Saint-Saëns’ Tarantelle in A Minor for Flute, Clarinet, and Piano, Op. 6 and “The Carnival of the Animals.”

Brown displays a rather creative approach to conservation in the premiere of “Carnival of Endangered Wonders,” a reimagining of Saint-Saëns’ “Carnival of the Animals” by depicting 14 modern endangered species at the time of day each creature is most itself.

Brown attributes hours of research and “something called Amazon Prime” to his discovering which instruments best depicted each critter. While adhering to the original Saint-Saëns instrumentation, he added special effects for each instrument and expanded the percussion section to include a chaotic array of oddities including the musical hand saw. The result is a piece that is as interesting to watch as it is to hear. In addition to playing one of the piano parts, Brown narrated with a series of clever and humorous poems (as often accompany the Saint-Saëns version).  

A few of the 14 unique animal depictions really stood out. Movement three’s buff-cheeked gibbons dominated in the playful “bee-ooop” of the flute and clarinet (Tara Helen O’Connor, flute, and Romie de Guise-Langlois, clarinet.) The cello (Dmitri Atapine) dove into the realm of the blue whales with a remarkable series of squeaks and “eee-oooohs” in movement four.

Though the narrator’s poem joked that movement seven’s dangerously disemboweling cassowary made him “casso-wary,” its music - with thunderous syncopation, threatening chords, chaotic energy, and even a feral screech - was decidedly not.

Brown added references to pieces like Debussy’s “Claire de Lune” to his piano movement. Percussionist Ayano Kataoka had the most memorable moments, producing the growl of the Amur Leopard with a rope across the head of a drum and coaxing musical “ee-ope’s” in various pitches from a hand saw to convey a sawfish. Don’t try that at home, kids! 

Saint-Saëns’ “Carnival of the Animals” closed the program, though I would have preferred hearing it before Brown’s reimagining, as those less familiar with the original may have found difficulties understanding Brown’s references.

Nevertheless, the musicians dazzled here too. In true ensemble fashion, they passed the baton so seamlessly it was difficult to tell who was leading - even for a trained musician. There were plenty of well-earned solos, too: Double bass Anthony Manzo lumbered as the elephant in the fifth movement, violinists Benjamin Beilman and Erin Keefe had a heated argument (perhaps over whose ears were, in fact, longer) in the seventh, and O’Connor’s flute once again sparkled as (shockingly) a bird.

This time around, narrations were provided by violist Paul Neubauer, who demonstrated a hearty zeal for theatrics and fun, especially when it came time to locate Guise-Langlois’ cuckoo in the depth of the woods. A lament here to Atapine, whose final cello melody so beautifully glided through the air only to be interrupted by a premature clap between the last two movements. Atapine’s feathers may not have been ruffled, but mine were. The musicians roared through their final movement in a heart-thumping crescendo of a party, leaving our listeners sure to be on the prowl for more.

The two carnivals were supported by three shorter pieces. The Vivaldi flute concerto, accurately titled “il gardellino” (the goldfinch), opened the evening. Playful and delicate, O’Connor’s flute chirped its way through a series of fast, crisp notes and pronounced accents in the first and third movements and serenaded us with honey-sweet melodies in the second.

The program turned to a mournful examination of loss in its second piece – Golijov’s “Mariel.” Kataoka’s marimba glimmers into existence, hovering around us like fireflies on a soft summer evening. Without warning, pangs of grief cut in with the devastated howl of Atapine’s cello. In a perfect world, the uneasy web of loss and emotion music navigates here would never coexist. But such is not the nature of grief. The final note sets, soft and close to our hearts. If only we were all so lucky as to have a friend like Mariel.

Finally, after a brief intermission, Saint-Saëns’ “Tarantelle” preluded the “Carnival of the Animals” as it danced across the stage like a spider on hot coals – rather fitting as its name references an Italian folk-dance used to cure venomous spider bites.

Emma Jo Patten is a freelance writer. She has dual undergraduate degrees in music and drama from Florida State University and a Masters in Performance Psychology from the University of Edinburgh (Scotland). She also plays flute and guitar.