Classical Concert Reviews Cinci

@uc_ccm’s Philharmonia opened its winter/spring 2026 semester of performances with a program titled North by Borthwest, highlighting works by three musical titans of the late-19th and early 20th centuries.
George Enescu’s Romanian Rhapsody No. 1, perhaps his most famous orchestral work, made a vibrant and exciting opener under the direction of doctoral student conductor Carlos Avendaño-Garcia. His lyrical sweep and sense of bouncy fun permeated the orchestra’s performance wonderfully, even if there was at least one moment in the music that slightly derailed but proved to be a quick fix.
Pianist Liming Yang, a student of Dror Biran and the newest winner of the CCM Piano Concerto Competition, joined to give an aurally stunning performance of Béla Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 3. It is indeed rare to find student artists play music of this caliber as flawlessly as CCM, and they succeeded in every way. Yang’s playing was full of singing expressivity and a lightness of tone, especially in the first and second movements as it built to the driving, passionate third movement.
Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 6 is a work which reflects the sunny optimism of Brahms, being written in 1880, only seven years after Brahms’s Second Symphony. Yet it is surprisingly performed less frequently than his final three symphonies. CCM’s Philharmonia gave an excellent case for more frequent performances of this work with a spectacular, well-rounded interpretation to round off the evening. Strings and brass were in full bloom on a musical and technical level and the timpani sounded surprisingly strong, carried well by Corbett Auditorium’s acoustics. It would be fair to say how the CCM Philharmonia plays Dvořák, or any music, is on par with the great orchestras of London, Paris, Cincinnati or perhaps New York. Very much looking forward to a new round of concerts from this group in February and March.