‘Mozart, Strauss & Sibelius’ @ Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra
—Wayne Lee Gay
Works of Mozart, Richard Strauss, and Sibelius create an agenda of strongly contrasted musical styles in this weekend's concerts of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.
German-born Kevin John Edusei, now in the third of a three-year term as princicpal guest conductor of the FWSO, opens the concert with Richard Strauss' Don Juan, a work describing—in brilliant orchestral colors and rich Wagnerian harmonies—the adventures and ultimate demise of the legendary lover. It stands as one of the earliest in the series of pictorial tone poems with which Strauss established himself as a leading exponent of late German musical romanticism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Don Juan opens fortissimo and Allegro molto con brio, and stays that way for much of its twenty-minute length, but it's not just about noise and velocity. Conductor Edusei here provides a firm grip of the dramatic structure; the orchestra responds with precision and virtuosity in the face of Strauss' not inconsiderable technical demands. Assistant concertmaster Eugene Cherkasov and principal oboe Jennifer Corning Lucio perform the two prominent instrumental solos, depicting the softer side of Don Juan, with striking sensitivity.
Although Strauss was a notable admirer of Mozart, the contrast between Strauss's picture-painting and the serene, purely formal delicacy of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat could hardly be greater. Here, Concertmaster Michael Shih and principal viola DJ Cheek step out of the orchestra and into the spotlight as soloists, backed by a much smaller orchestra, with the string section reduced by half to meet the stylistic demands of the late eighteenth century.
Violinist Shih creates a subtly expressive approach to his part, beautifully matched by the duskier but equally entrancing quality of violist Cheek's performance. Conductor Edusei and the orchestra set the tone in the extended orchestral opening section with well-balanced classical-era energy.
After intermission, Edusei and the full orchestra return to the late romantic era with Sibelius's expansive Symphony No. 5. Edusei never quite finds firm footing in the extended opening section: admittedly, Sibelius here seems to be striving and searching, but the effect under Edusei feels meandering and directionless. Edusei's interpretation begins to feel clear and secure only at the point at which Sibelius finally lands in a grand proclamation in B-flat, about halfway through the movement.
In the second movement, Edusei is more confident with the gentle minuet-like melody that gradually evolves into a broadly lyrical theme. And with the orchestra in top form, he quite successfully creates the drama of the third movement, with its hypnotically swaying main theme—crowned, in the final moment, with the deliciously brilliant and shocking final cadence, its broadly accented chords separated by seconds of arresting silence.
WHEN: January 17-19 (repeats Sunday)
WHERE: Bass Performance Hall, Fort Worth
WEB: fwsymphony.org
