Classical Concert Reviews Cinci

@cincysymphony continued its 2025-26 season with a program that served as a wonderful Thanksgiving gift to Cincinnati, featuring new works by American composers Carlos Simon and Lisa Bielawa and a lesser-known symphony by Antonín Dvořák.
Under Music Director Cristian Mǎcelaru, the orchestra opened with an exciting performance of Simon’s Tales: A Folklore Symphony, inspired by African American stories as diverse as the folk story of John Henry and Afrofuturist comic books by the contemporary duo Black Kirby. Perhaps the most unique aspect of the work was the inclusion of two pairs of leather gloves in the percussion, used in the second movement to support the feeling of flight.
Violin soloist Tessa Lark (@tessalark) then joined the orchestra for a CSO co-commission: Pulse, the second violin concerto by New York-based composer Lisa Bielawa (@lisabielawa). Drawing much of its musical inspiration from Tin Pan Alley and traditional Appalachian melodies, the work provided ample opportunities for Lark to showcase her bright, no-nonsense virtuosity, especially in the first and third movements. Orchestrally, Bielawa writes in a style reminiscent of late Stravinsky and Arnold Schoenberg, particularly in the winds and percussion and an unusually soft ending. This occasionally caused the soloist to be overpowered in most of the last movement as she switched to a traditional Appalachian fiddle, but it was exciting nonetheless. Lark encored with an invigorating performance of her own Appalachian Fantasy for solo violin, which brought the Music Hall audience to its feet.
Following a short excerpt from Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring, Mǎcelaru and the CSO concluded with a high-spirited reading of Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7. Dating from 1885, it is undoubtedly one of his most dramatic orchestral works, yet is performed less frequently than his final two symphonies. The first, third and final movements each contained strong melodies evoking Brahms and Beethoven, which the orchestra played spectacularly. Mǎcelaru’s leadership was laser-like in its precision yet never forceful, more so than in the second and third movements.
What a fantastic way to cap off a chilly fall evening.