Kansas City Symphony Finale: Mozart and Strauss

Two grand symphonic statements by Mozart and Richard Strauss comprised the final program of the 2012-2013 subscription season of the Kansas City Symphony. Mozart's late masterpiece the Symphony # 40 in g K 550 and Strauss' last symphonic poem, a monument to his beloved Alps, the Eine Alpensinfonie op 64 of 1915. Michael Stern was on the podium.

Mozart's Symphony # 40 in g K 550 was completed on July 25, 1788 in that remarkable summer which also produced the 39th in June and the monumental 41st in August. Although fairly short and, with the exception of the revised version with the added clarinets, very conventionally scored, Mozart was looking on to Beethoven and Schubert, not to the past. With this symphony and its brothers, he was creating the standard for symphonic works that would stand for a century.

Stern was not in anyway trying to recreate the symphony as Mozart may have heard it. This was Mozart in the mode of Bruno Walter or George Szell, big, bold and symphonic.

The deservedly popular and familiar first movement was nervous and charged, brimming with restless energy. The weight and heft of Beethoven was present in the The second movement, somewhat on the brisk side, still sang and flowed with just the right sigh of regret.The minuet danced, to be sure, but there was more than a touch of the more complex and substantial scherzo feeling in the performance. The finale was taken at a fair clip, charged with anguished intensity, which fit in with the generally quick tempi of the other movements.

The orchestra was well blended and responsive throughout. Stern led with great clarity and focus, free of sentimentality and fussiness. The usually fine winds were also in great form as were the pair of horns, especially clear and blended in the trio of the Minuet. Not the most subtle and elegant Mozart I have heard, and rightly so, this is Mozart at his most dramatic and almost romantic. A vital and valid performance.

Strauss' ultimate symphonic poem is not a symphony in the formal sense nor is it a piece brimming with long, developed melodies and motifs. An Alpine Symphony is tone painting and musical story telling at its epitome. For this sprawling work to be a satisfying musical experience, it simply can not sound like a series of vignettes and unrelated episodes or just a  great deal of noise from a huge  orchestra. It is a journey through a day above all, albeit a rugged, colorful and exciting adventurous day; from a slow, misty morning, through the sunrise, the climb, the mountain top, storm and descent to a quiet night.

The atmospheric opening (marred a touch by some iffy brass intonation) set forth an exciting and well paced performance that never bogged down. The brass certainly redeemed their minor foible with a commanding, burnished sound even when heard en masse with the Wagner tubas, extra tubas and trombones. The large off stage brass contingent was well co-ordinated and just distant enough to make its affect and yet be totally audible. The winds were at their best, even the rarely heard or seen heckelphone. The organ, when called upon, blended well and provided the deep, resonate foundation that is required.

Now and then we heard some strained entrances and the brass and winds overwhelmed the strings occasionally. But the percussion fueled storm raged, the sun glinted in high woodwinds and trumpets from the icy summit and he sun set with poignancy, fading quietly and hauntingly into the night.

Maybe 4-5 seasons ago, the orchestra would not have been able to handle such a monumental work. Of course, most of the orchestra would not have fit on the old lyric stage, there would have been a feeble electronic organ and the sound muddled. Then also, the level of playing has risen annually as to where one has to remember we are in Kansas City and not say New York or Chicago.

A most glorious way to end a fine season of music with one of the nation's finest orchestras.

Kansas City Symphony: Berg, Schubert and Ruggles

Two “greats” from different eras comprised the penultimate and highly anticipated program of the 2102-2013 Kansas City Symphony season. Michael Stern, Music Director, conducted. The first half featured the Violin Concerto by Alban Berg, Gil Shaham as solo. The last half was comprised of Schubert's last symphony, the glorious C major number 9.

As a bonus, Maestro Stern selected American composer Carl Ruggles’ brief yet haunting “Angels” for muted brass to open the evening. This strange, ephemeral work blended brilliantly with the mood and tone of the Berg. The brass intonation was a tad off in spots and the entrances were a bit ragged, but the over all effect was achieved. As the final note of “Angels” faded, the lights illuminated the whole orchestra and soloist Gil Shaham launched into the equally ephemeral opening passage of the Berg concerto, barely at audible level. A fine piece of programming.

If any work can convince a skeptic that the twelve-tone school of composers did not always write “ugly music” it would be the exquisite Alban Berg Violin Concerto from 1935. A touching and glowing instrumental requiem for Manon Gropius, daughter of Architect Walter Gropius and Mahler's widow Alma, the Violin Concerto has emerged as Alban Berg's most popular work. It was also his last completed work.

Berg carefully chose the notes of his tone row; which frequently teeters on the edge of tonality, placing the work between the Vienna of Beethoven and Johann Strauss and that of Schoenberg and beyond.

In that light, Stern correctly read the concerto as a requiem cast as a grandly unfolding waltz laced with Bach and folk song.

Berg conceived his Concerto in two movements, each then subdivided into two parts. The opening Andante presents the twelve-tone row on which the concerto is based, immediately establishing a tonal and contemplative mood. The more animated second half, marked Allegretto, serves as a scherzo with two trios and was described by the composer as a portrait of Manon Gropius. In this section, we hear music associated with the vivacious young actress including folk dances, waltzes, and even a section that is to be played “Wienerisch” or 'Viennese”. With the entrance of the folk song, the movement quickly becomes bitter and colder; death is approaching.

From this nostalgic and wistful movement, we plunge into the more dramatic and funereal second. The allegro first section, which the composer designated “Catastrophe,” serves as the concerto's dramatic cadenza, building to the work’s climax. After the shattering climax, the work relaxes in a mood of resignation. Berg quotes a Bach chorale “Es ist genug,” (It is Enough) from his cantata O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort ( Eternity, you thundering word), a cantata of farewell and acceptance of death.

The conclusion, marked “Deliverance,” develops the chorale theme into a rhapsodic “Requiem for Manon”. Themes from earlier sections are quoted, reflecting times past.

The performance was leisurely, thoroughly Romantic and lush, one that took time to explore and highlight the torrent of melodic cells, harmonic nuances and rhythmic vitality inherent in Berg's masterpiece. Shaham was a sympathetic soloist, completely absorbed in the concerto's message of life, death, and deliverance. His tone bit and snarled as required in the agitated passages and just as easily sweetly sang when called upon. The second movement's opening cadenza had an appropriately improvisatory feeling. In the quiet final moments, some of the most sublime music ever penned, both the orchestra and the violin were shimmering and luminous; a glimpse of transfiguration.

Schubert's music, whether instrumental or vocal, is the epitome of song. Thus any fine performance of his music simply must sing. Stern's performance of the “Great” was brisk, with the latent power on full display but under fine control. And yes, it sang... never losing sight of Schubert's long, lyrical lines. The horns were magnificent in their opening call to prayer answered by the solemn alleluia of the strings. The whole first movement progressed like a force of nature from this solemn opening to the ecstatic final measures. The andante second movement was beautifully shaped and again on the brisk side rising to a most terrifying but not hysterical climax. A well proportioned scherzo with a lyrical, waltzing trio and a gone-like-gangbusters stomp of a finale completed this colorful, energetic and stylish performance.

The whole concert, the iffy brass in “Angels” an exception, featured some of the most committed playing from all sections of the orchestra this season. And what can serve as a better finale than this? The grand and glorious Strauss “Ein Alpensinfonie” concludes the season June 7-9.

Kansas City Symphony: Fisch Conducts Mozart, Mahler and Brahms

Israeli conductor/pianist Asher Fisch, long time music director at the Vienna Volksoper and Israeli Opera and soon Music Director of the West Australia SO, returned to Kansas City this weekend, May 17-19 with one of the more interesting and unusual concerts of the season. The concert opened with Mahler's gently lyrical “Blumine” once part of the first version of the Symphony # 1. The first half concluded with the Piano Concerto # 17 K453 by Mozart with Fisch as soloist and conductor. The program concluded with the Brahms Piano Quartet in G op 25 as orchestrated by Arnold Schoenberg.

In “On the Horizon” I discussed the background of the Mahler and Schoenberg, noting that performances of these pieces are not exactly everyday occurrences.

Lucky for those in attendance, Fisch led a gentle, flowing, detailed and overall very successful performance. The mysterious opening for tremolo strings was pure atmosphere, barely at audible level, a texture and feeling more than just mere notes. This was a restrained “Blumine” as it should be, a pastoral interlude singing and a touch melancholy. Special kudos for principal trumpet Gary Schutza's lyrical and tonally beautiful which is the backbone of this fine little tone poem. The final moments of the work, with hushed strings in the highest register and the final quiet flourish of the harp was magical.

Fisch and the orchestra continued the concert with the alternately mercurial and dramatic Mozart Concerto # 17, written and premiered in 1784. The opening movement is typical of Mozart's gracefully lyric style. Fisch is an accomplished pianist with a singing tone and fine technique. The orchestra winds were in their usual fine form, deftly interjecting and commenting on the piano, especially in the charming and witty opening measures of the movement.

The middle andante, in contrast, is one of Mozart's more dramatic concerto movements. Fisch took the movement at a particularly brisk tempo which could of worked, but with his concentration divided between playing and conducting, it led to a some shaky moments and tentative entrances. Fisch was sensitive to the drama of the movement, accenting and highlighting the more dramatic passages. The Variations-Finale unfolded with the same charm and brisk tempo of the preceding movements.

What was missing was the feeling of unbridled melody and graceful expression that is a hallmark of a successful Mozart performance. Fisch and the orchestra were certainly not flat or dull, but the extra effort in keeping the orchestra and piano together, led to an overall restrained and mechanical feeling.

Fisch and the orchestra relished the Brahms Quartet, revealing the genius of Schoenberg's orchestration and Brahms' sense of form and order. A brisk performance, which is always a good thing in Brahms, Fisch and his forces still took time to luxuriate in the melodies that flowed from Brahms' fertile imagination. Fisch and the orchestra brought out all the Brahmsian character, drama and charm inherent in the Quartet. Fisch's attention to detail aided by Schoenberg's spot lit orchestrations illuminated how Brahms deftly crafted the first movement's melodic content from the opening declamatory motif. The Intermezzo and Trio, functioning as a scherzo, was well controlled yet infused with the right degree of moto perpetuo force. The grand Andante con Moto was swiftly flowing as an movement so marked should be. The concluding Rondo, marked “alla zingarese” was a total tour-de-force, Fisch and the orchestra pulling out all stops for a bravura finale. Even Schoenberg's xylophone and percussion touches seemed totally appropriate and part of the thick, rich texture instead of being a strange afterthought.

A thoughtful program of some off the beaten path works, rare and quite well done.

What I am Listening to Today

Havergal Brian (1876-1972) is one of those composers more notorious and talked about than actually heard.  Every so often, he is "rediscovered" and a new batch of recordings and performances pop up here and there. Then his star fades again for a while... waiting for a new champion.

I have managed to be a fan of this fascinating and quirky composer since my college days. A former University of Illinois music student Paul Rapoport (who went on to be a popular record reviewer with Fanfare Magazine and a noted professor of music in his native Canada) had left behind research and scores in the Music Library which I managed to find while ignoring my more immediate studies. Curious I located some pirate recordings of live performances and at the time the only commercial recording of his music, the 10th and 21st Symphonies.

Devotees of the "Guinness Book of World Records" know Brian as the composer of the longest Symphony, his massive Symphony # 1 "Gothic" written in the 1920's. Instead of quietly retiring, Brian spent his 80s and 90's composing, 32 symphonies in all, 20 of them written after his 80th birthday.

The disc capturing my attention is part of a series of Brian works on Dutton Epoch with Martyn Brabbins and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. With a Proms concert of the Gothic under his belt, Brabbins is the latest Brian champion. A second disc with the Violin Concerto, Symphony # 13, Third English Suite and the "Tinker's Wedding" Overture is also available.

The 10th Symphony in one movement from 1954 has the frequent dotted rhythms (making the music a bit "Clunky" to some), large orchestra and percussion effects characteristic of many of his symphonies. The sound and performance are miles ahead of the 1972 recording which used a school orchestra, albeit a fine one. Brabbins' performance also seems a bit livelier and concentrated than the 1972 Leicestershire Schools Symphony Orchestra performance under James Loughran, likely due to the more accomplished orchestra.

Receiving its recorded premiere, the Symphony # 30 is a product of  Brian's incredible later years. In 1967, 91 year old Brian had written his 27th, 28th and 29th Symphonies and then completed the 30th. Although it is almost the same length as the 10th, the 30th seems more compact. Chromatic, a bit wild, dramatic and "fantastic", the 30th is a prime example of his late works.  The final coda is worth the price of the disc itself, if nothing else, Brian new how to end a symphony in spectacular and often unexpected fashion; a new recording of the Symphony # 21 would be most welcome as it contains his most interesting and surprising ending.

The 1964 Concerto for Orchestra is a compact 15 minute orchestral tour-de-force in the vein of Bartok and Hindemith's examples of the genre. All the Brian characteristics, the colorful percussion and brass especially, are there in this first recording of this almost unknown work.

The English Suite # 3 dates from 1921 yet is every bit a product of the composer. Colorful, more pastoral than the later symphonies and more Strauss and Wagner influenced than the later works, this is another welcome first recording.

Admittedly, Brian's music, like anchovies and scotch, is an acquired taste. What does it say about me that I like all three?

Havergal Brian
Symphony # 10 in c 1954
English Suite # 3 1919-1921
Concerto for Orchestra 1964
Symphony # 30 1967

Martyn Brabbins
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Dutton Epoch CDLX 7267

On the Horizon

With the Mahler 6^th, Rachmaninoff “The Bells”, Scriabin “Poeme of Ecstasy” and Carmina Burana in the history books, one might think it is all down hill now with the 2012-2013 Kansas City Symphony season. But still to come in May are these incredible, lesser known gems that a serious concert goer should not miss. Stick around in June for the finale, the massive Richard Strauss “Eine Alpensinfonie”,

Mahler "Blumine"  (1889)

May 17-19, 2013, Asher Fisch Conducting.

Mahler’s first symphonic essay took a circuitous route in both form and content before emerging as the familiar and popular Symphony # 1 in D major.“Blumine” was once a part of this symphony but was discarded by Mahler after a few performances. After its rediscovery in 1966, it has occasionally been performed as a part of the Symphony but more frequently as a separate piece, as in this case. A little history lesson is in order so as to understand how this movement disappeared for 70 years.

Mahler first conceived of this work as “A Symphonic Poem in Two Parts” when it was premiered in Budapest in 1889. “Blumine” (although not yet labeled as such) was the second movement of this early form which is recognizable as the First Symphony but with many differences in orchestration and form. This performance was not well received so Mahler made some extensive revisions for a second performance in Hamburg in 1893. Now entitled “Titan, a Tone Poem in Symphonic Form”, the movement gained the title “Blumine” (Flowers) and remained as the second movement.

Only a couple of performances were given of this version before a  fouth performance in Berlin in 1896 where Blumine was formally struck from the score. All traces of the program and the name “Titan” were removed. The work was published in its current form in 1899 titled Symphony # 1 in D Major.

Blumine remained unperformed and lost until it was discovered in a copy of an early manuscript donated to Yale University. Benjamin Britten performed it soon after and the enterprising New Haven Symphony under conductor Frank Brieff performed and recorded it, interpolated into the definitive score as the second movement. Since then, several performances have been given and recorded of the early Budapest and Hamburg versions.

So what of the music? Mahler biographer Henry-Louis de La Grange was not too kind:

“There can be no doubt as to the authorship of ‘Blumine,’ and yet few other arguments can be stated in its favor. It is the music of a late-nineteenth-century Mendelssohn, pretty, charming, lightweight, urbane, and repetitious, just what Mahler’s music never is.”

Frankly, I kind of like the early versions with Blumine If one enjoys the lovely Adagietto of the 5^th Symphony, the short interlude will also come as a quiet, simple respite among the otherwise emotionally charged atmosphere of the symphony. I do agree with de La Grange that it is a bit like Mendelssohn scored with a decidedly late 19^th century palate. However. it looks forward to Mahler’s grander creations such as the aforementioned 5^th  Adagietto and the 3rd’s posthorn serenade.

Several fine recordings of the Symphony with Blumine are available, most including Blumine as an appendix, notably Zinman/Zurich Tonhalle on RCA and Neeme Jarvi/Royal Scottish Orchestra on Chandos. Haydn House, an LP to CD reissue source, has the original Frank Brieff/New Haven recording, for the most curious.

Brahms/Schoenberg Piano Quartet (1861, orchestration by Arnold Schoenberg 1937)

May 17-19 Ascher Fisch conducting.

On the same concert as “Blumine”, Ascher Fisch has programmed another rare and unusual work, the 1937 orchestration of Brahms' Piano Quartet # 1 in g composed in 1861.

When asked why he orchestrated this piece Schoenberg replied:

“My reasons: I like the piece. It is seldom played. It is always very badly played, because, the better the pianist, the louder he plays and you hear nothing from the strings. I wanted once to hear everything, and this I achieved.

My intentions: To remain strictly in the style of Brahms and not to go farther than he himself would have gone if he lived today. To watch carefully all the laws to which Brahms obeyed and not to violate them, which are only known to musicians educated in his environment."

Schoenberg famously considered Brahms a more “progressive” composer than Wagner or Liszt and relished Brahms' ability to create a large scale work or movement with a limited amount of material. Although every note is Brahms', Schoenberg's orchestration is considerably more colorful with deft use of percussion and brass. Schoenberg uses this augmented orchestration to bring out harmonic relationships, motifs and inner voices that are hidden in the more monochromatic Piano Quartet version. Schoenberg was a master orchestrator and his jewel like arrangement really does allow the listener to “hear everything”. As in the scene where Dorothy wakes up in Oz, Schoenberg's color brings the work to life.

Robert Craft's classic recording with the Chicago Symphony is still around on Sony and Simon Rattle has made a specialty of the piece with both his Birmingham and Berlin orchestras.

Berg Violin Concerto “To the Memory of an Angel” (1935)

May 31-June 2 2013 Gil Shaham Violin, Michael Stern Conducting.

If any work can convince a skeptic that the twelve-tone school of composers did not always write “ugly music” it would be this exquisite concerto from 1935. A touching and glowing instrumental requiem for Manon Gropius, daughter of Architect Walter Gropius and Mahler's widow Alma, the Violin Concerto has emerged as Alban Berg's most popular work. It was also his last completed work.

In contrast to the craggy but colorful Schoenberg and the minimalist Webern, Berg carefully chose the notes of his tone row; teeters on the edge of tonality. He also incorporated fragments from an Austrian folk song and a Bach chorale that springs almost naturally from his chosen sequence of tone.

Berg conceived his Concerto in two movements, each then subdivided into two parts. The opening Andante presents the twelve-tone row on which the concerto is based, immediately establishing a tonal and contemplative mood. The more animated second half, marked Allegretto, serves as a scherzo with two trios and was described by the composer as a portrait of Manon Gropius. In this section, we hear music associated with the vivacious young actress including folk dances, waltzes, and even a section that is to be played “Wienerisch” or Viennese. With the entrance of the folk song, the movement quickly becomes bitter and colder; death is approaching.

From this nostalgic and wistful movement, we plunge into the more dramatic and funereal second. The allegro first section, which the composer designated “Catastrophe,” serves as the concerto's dramatic cadenza, building to the work’s climax. After the shattering climax, the work relaxes in a mood of resignation. Berg quotes a Bach chorale “Es ist genug,” (It is Enough) from his cantata O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort ( Eternity, you thundering word), a cantata of farewell and acceptance of death.

The conclusion, marked “Deliverance,” develops the chorale theme into a rhapsodic “Requiem for Manon”. Themes from earlier sections are quoted, reflecting times past.

There are many great recordings of this work to choose from, starting with the 1936 live broadcast with the original soloist Louis Krasner with Anton Webern conducting the BBC SO. Isaac Stern, Pinchas Zuckerman, Itzhak Perlman and Gidon Kremer have all had turns at the work, all recommended.

As a bonus, Maestro Stern has selected American composer Carl Ruggles’ brief yet haunting “Angels” for muted brass to open the evening. This strange, ephemeral work blends brilliantly with the mood and tone of the Berg. A fine piece of programming.

Darwin

A review of the world premiere of the new chamber opera "Darwin" by the newEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble. At www.Icareifyoulisten.com


http://www.icareifyoulisten.com/2013/05/newear-evolves-darwin-chamber-opera-kansas-city/

Chihara Viola Music

My latest CD review for I Care If You Listen

Chihara Viola Music

KC Symphony: The Bells, Poulenc and Ecstasy

A capacity crowd in both audience and performers filled Helzberg Hall as the Kansas City Symphony, Michael Stern, Music Director, Conducting, the Kansas City Symphony Chorus under Charles Bruffy, 3 vocal soloists and organist Caroline Robinson presented a concert of three emotionally powerful works.

Although famous even to the most casual of listener for his piano works, Sergei Rachmaninoff was also well versed in the traditions of Russian choral music, especially that of the Russian Orthodox Church. It should come as no surprise that one of his many masterpieces and one of his personal favorite pieces is the massive choral symphony “The Bells”, based on Edgar Allen Poe's poem of the same name. Sadly audiences do not get to hear it all that often since, in addition to chorus plus soprano, tenor, and baritone soloists, the work calls for a huge orchestra with expanded winds and brass, a whole battalion percussion (bells of course), six horns, two harps, organ, piano and celeste. Certainly the stage at the old Lyric Theatre would have sagged under the weight of the massed humanity and equipment.

Cast in four movements similar to an orchestral symphony, “The Bells” chronicles life's journey and the ever present relationship with bells from youthful romance and marriage, through decline and mortality and finally death itself.

“The Silver Sleigh Bells” was perfectly bright and youthful with Stern evoking the movement's kinship to Mahler especially to “Das Lied von der Erde”. The “Golden Wedding Bells” was highlighted by Jessica Rivera's passionate soprano and the chorus' deft accompaniment. “The Loud Alarum Bells” was full of fury, fright and fire from the chorus and orchestra, quite too much from the chorus actually. “The Mournful Iron Bells” brought the cycle to a conflicted close. Death is no longer panic and fear but a resigned and calm passage. English Horn Kenneth Lawrence was his usual fine self in the extensive solos in this movement.

The three soloists Matthew Plenk, Tenor, Weston Hurt, Baritone and previously mentioned Jessica Rivera were all in fine voice, but Hurt seemed to be a bit uncomfortable with his part. The huge orchestra moved deftly when called upon and roared mightily as well; the brass especially burnished and powerful.

The massive chorus, viscerally stunning as it was, frequently overwhelmed all before it and its sheer size rendered it more of a sound and texture than an important vocal component. It was amusing to listen to the intermission conversations/arguments among some patrons as to whether they were singing in Russian, English or even German.

Poulenc's Concerto for Organ, Strings and Timpani (1938) surprised his followers, accustomed as they were to his saucy chamber music and classically inspired concertante works. Shaken by the death of a friend, he turned to his first religious works (Four Motets for a time of Penitence, Mass in G) and the more profound and darker Concerto for Organ.

From the colossal opening chords, evoking both Bach and the great French organ tradition, through the more hymnal episodes and on to the dramatic final measures, young organist Caroline Robinson was in command of the mighty Casavant. She took full advantage of the organ's finely detailed reeds and flutes and never let the organ's overall timbre become brittle and harsh in the fortissimo passages. Stern kept the precise and fluid strings of the orchestra well balanced with the organ and Timothy Jepson's timpani provided firm support to the bass line, as they were called upon by the composer to do. Cast in one long movement subdivided into seven sections, the work can appear episodic and bogged down in the slower passages if the forces are not careful. Stern, the orchestra and Robinson did not succumb to all that and gave the audience a powerful, lyrical and intense performance of this most popular of organ concerti.

The ambitious program closed with the Scriabin “Poem of Ecstasy”, a 20 minute, one movement tone poem often referred to as his Symphony # 4. Written between 1905 and 1908 when the composer was drifting further away from the influence of Wagner, Chopin and Liszt, “Poem” is scored for a large orchestra with organ, 2 harps, and augmented winds and brass. Scriabin, in notes for the premiere performance penned a typically mystic program for the piece invoking the “Cosmos”, the “Joy Of Liberated Action” and “an Orgy of Love.”

A successful performance of this thickly scored, diffusely rhythmic music must not come off as a great wall of hyperactive sound. The conductor has to gently but firmly control the ebb and flow of the music taking us to one high point, backing off a bit to reflect and then plunge head on unto the next. This Stern did to great affect. Stern's performance unfolded with a sense of urgency and forward pulse, aided by fine trumpet and violin solos, impressive percussion, winds and solid strings and brass. (The horns were impressive all evening.) Caroline Robinson was back on the organ providing a solid foundation for the final pages and the shattering final chord. It has been confirmed that this mighty chord did not break any windows, albeit the capacity was certainly there.