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Scheherezade's stories and a spellbinding soloist kept the audience fascinated at the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra's concert Friday night at the Fulton Opera House, a triumphant conclusion to the 2008-09 season.
Santiago Rodriguez, a native of Cuba who began studying the piano when he was 4 years old, brought an undeniable authority to Sergei Rachmaninoff's 1891 (revised in 1917) Concerto No. 1 in F# Minor. But, in a piece that requires the orchestra, conducted by Stephen Gunzenhauser, and soloist to be true partners, both came through with an outstanding performance. Without unnecessary drama, Rodriguez made the huge challenges of this work seem effortless.
The first movement, starting with a magisterial blast from the orchestra and thundering chords on the piano, built in rising swells like ocean currents, culminating with a series of lightning-fast figures from Rodriguez. The quieter, highly chromatic second movement began darkly with brass and woodwinds, and featured the pianist accompanied by a solo bassoon in one passage, oboe and French horn in another. Rodriguez's playing positively sparkled in the mercurial third movement. The audience gave him a well-merited standing ovation and was rewarded with an encore.
The concert began and ended with orchestral showpieces — one unexpected. "Black Swan," Chinese native Bright Sheng's remarkable 2006 arrangement of Johannes Brahms' Intermezzo in A Major, was a marvelous transformation of a piano work into one for full orchestra. Every part of the orchestra had a role to play in the work, and it was distinctly reminiscent of conductor Leopold Stokowski's great arrangements.
The expected showpiece was, of course, Nicolay Rimsky-Korsakov's 1888 "Scheherezade" symphonic suite — a piece that Gunzenhauser once edited for Stokowski. It was loud, it was bright, it was almost overwhelming in spots as the music evoked violent shipwrecks, dazzling festivals and autocratic rulers.
Concertmaster Igor Yuzefovich, whose violin solos represented the voice of Scheherezade, brought a rich, romantic tone and respite from the tumult.
Altogether it was a rich and colorful performance, over which a Stokowskian spirit seemed to reign. There was plenty of applause between the movements from the audience and shouts of praise for Yuzefovich at the conclusion of the concert.
Lancaster Symphony Orchestra will perform at the Fulton Opera House again today at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 7:30 p.m. See www.lancastersymphony.org for more information.
E-mail: epatton@lnpnews.com
