A few other artists might be James Galway’s musical equals, but none have a more likable stage personality.
With his twinkling eyes and easy smile, the flutist never needs long to win over audiences, whether they are classical- music fans or not.
Such appeal helps explain why Galway is one of the field’s few stars who can routinely sell out halls, as he did Tuesday evening in the University of Colorado’s Macky Auditorium.
He returned to Colorado as part of a 22-city, cross-country tour with his wife, Jeanne, who also is a flutist, and the Polish Chamber Orchestra, one of Europe’s many fine second-tier ensembles.
As might be expected, the CU Artists Series program offered plenty of opportunities for Galway to show off his considerable skills on the flute, which, after all, was why everyone was there. But it also featured him in the less familiar role of conductor.
Galway first stepped onto the podium 25 years ago and now serves as principal guest conductor of the London Mozart Players, but his efforts on the podium Tuesday evening were less than impressive.
The orchestra, which is capable of beautiful playing, rarely rose above the routine in a predictable program celebrating the 250th anniversary of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s birth.
That was especially true in the orchestra’s indifferent take on the evening’s opener – the potentially magical Serenade No. 13 in G major, K. 525, “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.”
Although the interpretation of Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550, had some notable moments, such as Galway’s engagingly kinetic treatment of sections of the fourth movement, it never probed the full depths of this multifaceted, emotionally complex late work.
Such lackluster performances were a considerable letdown from the Colorado Symphony’s thrilling Mozart festival last weekend, which featured fresh, incisive interpretations and involved, high-caliber playing from the orchestra.
It couldn’t have helped that the Polish Chamber Orchestra played the same program, with no variations, at every stop on this tour. With Boulder the third-to-last city, the orchestra could well have been fatigued.
Fortunately, this concert was more about Galway’s gold flute than his conducting. Listeners got to hear him in one of the popular stalwarts of the instrument’s repertoire – the frothy Flute Concerto No. 2 in D major, K. 314.
If he did not sparkle in this work as much as he has on other occasions, all the virtuosic elements that have made him a star were present: a light, lilting and alluring tone along with precise intonation and technical facility to burn.
Perhaps because he and the orchestra performed a day earlier in Beaver Creek and had some time to adjust, the 66- year-old flutist appeared to have little if any trouble with the altitude, as some visiting wind players do.
His ample talents were also showcased in “The Magic Flutes,” a kitschy yet entertaining pastiche of Mozart tunes created by Galway’s arranger, David Overton, for this tour. Jeanne Galway joined him as the second soloist, and she quickly showed that she is no slouch on the instrument, keeping up with him note for note.
But Galway’s best moment arguably came at the end when he returned to the stage after the first encore, a crowd-pleasing Overton arrangement of the Turkish Rondo from Mozart’s Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major for two flutes and orchestra.
To top things off, the flutist performed two Irish folk tunes, ending with – what else? – “Danny Boy.” Here he poured out the kind of heartfelt emotion and honest expression missing from too much of this concert.
Fine arts critic Kyle MacMillan can be reached at 303-820-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com.
