Classical Concert Reviews Cinci

@uc_ccm Philharmonia continued its newest concert season with a program titled Virtuosity Redux, focusing on some of the most popular orchestral showpieces to emerge from the 19th and 20th centuries. Opening with Samuel Barber’s Overture to The School for Scandal (written as he was completing his studies at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia in 1931), graduate student conductor Stephen Fillare led a very engaging performance full of imagination, pathos and intimacy.
Violinist Yue Yang, a student of Kurt Sassmannhaus and recent winner of CCM’s violin concerto competition, then joined the orchestra and conductor Mark Gibson for a nuanced, effervescent performance of Sibelius’s Violin Concerto. Yang’s tone was bright and mellifluous throughout, tackling Sibelius’s virtuosic demands with vigor, elegance and technical mastery. All this despite the fact the balance between soloist and orchestra felt slightly uneven in some places, largely due to the lack of reverberation in Corbett Auditorium. But an impressive performance nonetheless.
The Philharmonia then closed with a spectacular reading of Bela Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra, written as he was near death in 1943. High praise goes to the strings (in particular the two harpists), percussion and woodwind sections, each of which possessed a full-throated, supple and relaxed sound, especially in solo turns for flutes and bassoons in the third and fourth movements.
@uc_ccm is undoubtedly one of the finest music conservatories in the United States, and it’s easy to see why it’s flagship symphony orchestra has so many bright and talented musicians this school year. Looking forward to future offerings from this fine ensemble in the months to come.