Classical Concert Reviews Cinci

@cincysymphony opened April 2025 with a thrilling program headlined by one of the true masterpieces of early 20th-century German orchestral music, Richard Strauss’s Eine Alpensinfonie.
Under the direction of guest conductor Donald Runnicles, the orchestra opened with a vibrant reading of one of the most uniquely obscure pieces by an equally obscure composer, Scottish composer Hamish MacCunn’s concert overture The Land of the Mountain and the Flood. It provided ample opportunities to display the unique combination of the lily of Scottish folk melodies with the heady romanticism of Wagner and Mendelssohn.
Rising Russian violinist Maria Ioudenitch (@mariaioud) joined the orchestra to give a gorgeously scintillating performance of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto. Her playing throughout displayed technical brilliance, soaring lyricism running the emotional gamut from joy to deep sadness and a polished, silvery tone, and was wonderfully communicative with Runnicles, as he understood exactly what was needed to let her playing shine through. Ioudenitch followed with a uniquely rare encore, the opening movement of Paul Hindemith’s Sonata for Solo Violin, Op. 31, No. 2.
Strauss’s An Alpine Symphony dates from 1915 and was the last large-scale tone poem he completed. It follows a musical journey on an unparalleled scale, as the audience follows the arduous, treacherous journey of climbing to a mountain summit and navigating the surrounding forests and stormy weather leading to a serene conclusion. Maestro Runnicles and the CSO brought all these elements to the fore with spectacular drama, flair and effervescence, with fiery playing from the brass, strings and percussion in the sections evoking sunrise, the ascent, being on the glacier and the terror of thunderstorms. Having heard the work previously under Louis Langrée in 2019, Runnicles’ leadership was a refresh change of pace – understated and reserved yet full of power and majesty when needed. The organ part, wonderfully played by Michael Unger, felt slightly lacking, however, in its presence amid the rest of the orchestra, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.
Bravi tutti!