By Daniel Buckwalter

(aka #commonmanatthesymphony)

There were fierce splashes of abstract expressionism at the beginning, all to celebrate the Latvian-born — yet very much American — painter Mark Rothko.

This was followed by the granite-like presence of Abraham Lincoln and the resonant voice of KWAX radio (and beyond) stalwart broadcaster Peter van de Graaff, who served as a narrator.

Finally, the Oregon Mozart Players on Saturday night (Nov. 10) brought the near-capacity audience to a quiet place with micro looks at love and yearning, via Arias and Barcarolles from Leonard Bernstein, sung by mezzo-soprano Kathryn Leemhuis and baritone Paul Scholten.

All of it felt like a warm blanket on a chilly night under the direction of maestro Kelly Kuo at Beall Concert Hall at the University of Oregon, and it all fit nicely into the night’s theme, Made in America.

The spiritual intensity of colors came courtesy of Adam Schoenberg’s Finding Rothko (2006). There were the Orange, Yellow, Red and Wine movements. Each color was expressed on the walls to each side of the orchestra as the piece was being played.

It was captivating. I saw autumn. Others, perhaps, saw Rothko’s work. The painter, who was born in 1903, grew up mostly in Portland, attended Yale and would become a fixture in New York City, reinventing himself from lighter colors early in his career to darker hues in late life. Rothko committed suicide in 1970.

Schoenberg (who was born in 1980 and is very much still alive and composing) captures smartly the depth of Rothko’s work, I think, and takes the audience along for the ride. The composer, who viewed four of the painter’s works at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, finished the score while a doctoral student at Juilliard.

It was an energetic start to the evening. It also was a nice set-up for Aaron Copland’s Lincoln Portrait (1942). Lincoln still speaks, of course, as Copland (musically) and van de Graaff (verbally) remind us in these excerpts:

“Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance or insignificance can spare one or another of us.”

And this: “We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.”

I had listened to van de Graaff on the radio for years before he came to our town, and I’ll never understand how he found Eugene on a map. He did, though, and on Saturday night I believed he could narrate even my pedestrian life and give it gravitas.

The Bernstein showed up after intermission. By now even I know a great deal about Leonard Bernstein, but I underestimated his ability to strike at the delicate heart of relationships.

This made all the Arias and Barcarolles engaging for me, and my favorite was Mr. and Mrs. Webb Say Goodnight, sung by both Leemhuis and Scholten. The lyrics (by Bernstein) are a deep and heartbreaking look into the soul of a marriage.

It also is a reminder that, for all the grandeur of expressionist art and the thunder of historical figures, it is the soft touch of relationships and love that ultimately define us.

I had been through Beall Concert Hall before, but not for a concert. It is intimate, and its acoustics are wonderful. I also had not been to a performance of the Oregon Mozart Players. I know, I need to get out more often.

You should, too. The Oregon Mozart Players return Dec. 8 and 9 with the University of Oregon Chamber Choir (7:30 p.m. each night) at First Christian Church at 1166 Oak St.

It will be the group’s annual Candlelight Concert. It will be worth it.