Monday, June 14, 1999
Pianist, CSO unite for a double delight
BY DAMON SINK
Enquirer contributor
Pianist Terrence Wilson joined the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra for two special concerts Friday and Saturday, launching its summer season at Riverbend under the enthusiastic direction of associate conductor John Morris Russell.
It is not often that one gets the opportunity to hear a talented young pianist play different programs with the same orchestra two nights in a row, as Mr. Wilson did this weekend.
On Friday, Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini rounded out the first half of the program, and Mr. Wilson did not disappoint. His performance was invigorating and well-received.
The pianist's cue on both evenings was the arrival of the fireflies that frequently accompany summer evening performances. On Friday the Rachmaninoff also seemed to inspire a dramatic change in the weather. As we listened to the drama of the unfolding variations it was hard not to keep an ear on the thunderstorms rumbling to the west.
The Riverbend pavilion is a pleasant place to spend a summer evening, even after the kind of hot and muggy days we've been experiencing, and the threat of rain brought with it a welcome breeze.
Mr. Wilson's performance on Saturday was equally enjoyable. The Grieg Concerto in A Minor, Opus 16 again followed a concert-opening Overture, this one to the comic opera Maskarade by Carl Nielsen. The orchestra had a little more to dig into with the Nielsen, especially after a mostly half-hearted trudge through Wagner's Overture to The Flying Dutchman the night before.
Mr. Wilson cuts a fairly slight, even willowy figure at the keyboard, which is at once delightfully at odds with his robust and surefooted technique and completely consonant with his agility and lyrical phrasing. His playing was the highlight each evening.
The orchestra's programming for the weekend included suggestive titles for the concerts. Friday's was “Midnight Madness,” inspired by the themes of turbulence and darkness in the music. This was best represented by the Symphonie Fantastique of Hector Berlioz, which was played during the second half. The work is overtly programmatic; that is, it tells its story in music of (among other things) obsessive love and a march to the hangman's scaffold.
Saturday's program was called “Midnight Sun” because of the Slavic character and influence common to the composers — Nielsen, Grieg and Tchaikovsky, whose Symphony No. 4 was the last piece played.
The orchestra came into its own during the Tchaikovsky and delivered a standout performance, highlighted by a wonderful oboe solo in the Andantino by Richard Johnson and the rousing finale, Allegro con fuoco.
Investment flows into recreation
River freight traffic still growing
Drunken-driving arrests declining
'Worm' still eating computer data
Sales flying high as Flag Day is observed
Voice mail's as hot as the weather
Comedy Central's new lineup bad vs. good
Construction zone is dangerous place for workers
Cool down: skies plan on it
Getting his street smarts
2 guilty pleas are expected in killing
Picturing Hamilton in 2020
Schools update systems
Concours d'Elegance
Council field may be large in Mason
Crescent Park in final days
Pianist, CSO unite for a double delight
Section of roof collapses at store; 2 employees hurt
Spectacular feet
Summer series provides free music
Trumpeter rocks Dayton with hot night of jazz
GET TO IT
TRISTATE DIGEST
