Wherever he led, they would follow.
Page Auditorium, almost filled to capacity, sat hypnotized by internationally-renowned flutist James Galway Friday evening. With Galway was pianist Phillip Moll, who has been his accompanist since Galway began his solo career in 1975. The symbiosis between the two was exacting and flawless; their years of experience playing together were evident in their performance.
The 54-year-old flutist performed on a stage set with simple elegance; the Steinway concert grand piano surrounded by baskets of potted palms and philodendrons gave an impression of a concert in a garden room. Galway entered in his black tuxedo accented by a green bow tie. This unorthodox attire epitomized his performance. Galway's playing was flawless, classical, entirely professional--and yet he added a personal flair to his playing and stage presence. He introduced his pieces succinctly and humorously in his charming Irish brogue, engaging the audience. Before he even began, he had their hearts.
"I'm just a James Galway fan; I think he has so much personality that he put in, he has so much sparkle in his eyes," said Patricia McGovern of Westfield, NJ, who had front row center seats. "He has the mischief of a leprechaun in his eyes and the spirit in his soul."
Galway played with his entire body. He stepped into the music as the tone changed, runs carried him up onto his toes as the notes rippled through his body from his bent knees through his arched back. With his eyes closed, his brows raised, every part of his body pushed the passion of the music.
"What you should be doing is to try and get a deeper interpretation--if you play an adagio and this adagio has a feeling of sadness about it, you have to create this feeling of reverence within yourself and convey this feeling through the music to the people," Galway said in a telephone interview at his home in Switzerland prior to the performance.
"There's no sense in playing an adagio and thinking `boy, I wish I had a hamburger now,'" he said.
"There's no sense in thinking about all that stuff if you're supposed to be bringing the audience into another sphere," he said. The same way if you're sad when you go on and you have to play an upbeat number, you better change your mood fast, because it's not going to work."
The audience was indeed brought to another sphere by the crystal notes of Galway and Moll. Galway seemed to be pulled up, floating above the stage, the light glinting off his gold flute and patent leather shoes.
Tone changes in the music were smooth and effortless as Galway changed his entire emotion. Moll's performance was the same, as he instantaneously switched with the music from the stern look of Beethoven, pounding the keys with his brows and body hunched forward, to his head swaying casually, as if he were in the audience listening to the delicate glide of Galway's flute.
The second piece of the program, Prokofiev's "Sonata in D major," Galway described as starting with a "beautiful pastoral," then a "fantastic scherzo," followed by "a nice quiet little movement," and finally a "great rough Russian dance." The music was absolutely fantastic. It evoked images of a stream falling slowly down a mountain-- forceful, then calm. Instead of playing the songs in the manner of many masters before--boring, stiff, slow--he said he tries to make his music danceable and fun. Galway uses his unique styling to introduce classical music to people who would normally not be able to enjoy it.
"I never realized the flute was such a beautiful instrument," said John Hawkins, a Durham resident, after the Prokofiev. "It's such a long sustained piece he played, so you can truly appreciate it."
In the second half of the performance Galway moved into playing some newer pieces.
"Phillip and I always like to play something modern, well not modern, but something that was written in our lifetime," Galway told the audience.
In an arrangement of "The Carnival of Venice, " Galway's tone was rich and full. As he glided through the piece he seemed to smile.
The applause, mixed with shouts of "Bravo!" from the audience, seemed to get louder with every piece. After a standing ovation and three curtain calls, Galway returned to give the audience an encore of St. Sa`ns' "The Swan," along with Galway's famous renditions of "Danny Boy" and "The Flight of the Bumblebee."
Nothing could keep Galway fans away from this performance. Mary Ann Willoughby, an assistant in Perkins Library, said that despite her husband's broken ankle, they could not miss the performance.
"He's just marvelous. I could listen to him play his flute all day long," Willoughby said.
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