By Daniel Buckwalter
Annually, this is one of my favorite concerts in the Eugene-Springfield area. It comes at the end of another chaotic year, and I can use the serenity that candlelight and soft, pastoral music bring. The bustle of the holiday season, as well as perceptions of future events, are cast aside. Always with this concert — the Oregon Mozart Players’ Candlelight: Glow performance — I am struck by how present I am in the moment.
OMP, under the direction of interim artistic director and conductor Daniel Cho, performed its holiday magic on Dec. 20 and 21 in front of appreciative audiences inside the sanctuary of Eugene’s Central Presbyterian Church. I certainly appreciated the calm and professional elegance of the chamber symphony.
Of course, it helped tremendously at the outset that concertmaster and violinist Alice Blankenship led the players in a graceful rendition of Fantasia on Greensleeves, an arrangement from Ralph Greaves of the Ralph Vaughn-Williams piece.
It helped, too, that the night ended with Gustav Holst’s St. Paul’s Suite in C Major, a spirited four-movement piece that, at the end, incorporates The Dargason, a 17th century folk tune that is also featured in Greensleeves. In that sense, the concert came full circle.
There was, as well, the whimsical — Portland-based composer Damien Geter’s Buh-roke — as well as the lush wintry pieces of Francesco Manfredini (Christmas Concerto) and Gregor Joseph Werner (Christmas Pastorale).
The nicest surprise, though, was to listen and watch Eric Alterman do his work with the cello. A member of Delgani String Quartet and the Eugene Symphony Orchestra as well as Oregon Mozart Players, Alterman took center stage for C.P.E. Bach’s three-movement Cello Concerto in A Major, and he did not disappoint.
It’s a treasure when the musician and his or her instrument meld perfectly, as was the case with Alterman in this concerto. In the first and third movements, he displayed his virtuosity. The fingers and bow looked as if they were dancing. And in the second movement, he revealed the cello’s achingly soulful side.
It was a wonderful way to end the calendar year, and Eugene Scene wishes you a good holiday season.