By Daniel Buckwalter
(#CommonManAtTheSymphony)
The start and end were pictures of sensual delicacy. Everything in between was a happy mosh pit of some of the great music history in the United States.
And the result was a heartfelt and deserving standing ovation for guest violinist Bella Hristova and the Eugene Symphony Orchestra on March 14 in front of a nearly packed house at the Hult Center’s Silva Concert Hall.
Yes, the symphony, under the direction of Francesco Lecce-Chong, performed Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 as the finale to the program with fierce precision. It’s an iconic piece with its masterfully rhythmic second movement, and it got the justified attention it demands. It was beautiful to listen to it again, and the symphony received the extended ovation that was warranted.
And Beethoven, certainly for the first time that I remember, shared a program with George Gershwin, the great American composer of popular, jazz and classical music. Promenade (Walking the Dog) — composed in 1937 for the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers film, Shall We Dance — opened the night, and it was a lively introduction to the evening.
Yet it was the Violin Concerto in D Major, composed by Wynton Marsalis and which had its debut in 2015, that stole the show on this night.
The start and finish were, truly, as soft as can be, but the four-movement concerto is also a tribute to the violin (or fiddle, in some circles) and its place in American music lore, so there was a bouncy cheerfulness to the 40-minute-plus piece.
It is different. It is charming and captivating. It is fun. And it was all steered on this night with acute intricacy by Hristova.
From Rhapsody, the first movement, to Rondo Burlesque, Blues and finally Hootenanny (my favorite), Hristova kept the audience at attention with a performance that was at once delicate and fiery. It was a particular pleasure to watch her “sing” the blues with her violin next to the percussionist in the third movement.
Her performance, as well as the symphony’s play of Beethoven’s concerto, was wonderful to absorb. A great way to spend a Thursday night.
