Classical Concert Reviews Cinci

@mayfestivalcincy continued its 2026 offerings with a rather unique pairing – a relatively unknown orchestral score by Duke Ellington with one of the most well-known of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ choral-orchestral works, under the direction of @cincysymphony’s music director, Cristian Măcelaru.
Ellington’s suite The River, written in 1970 on a commission from the American Ballet Theater for choreographer Alvin Ailey, is a work which the composer described as a metaphor about the evolution of rivers from modest streams flowing into great wide seas. Măcelaru and the orchestra performed this musical metaphorical story with verve and unusually relaxed intimacy, especially in the opening horn, oboe and flute solos in the opening movements and percussion and brass writing in faster sections.
Ralph Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony, written between 1903 and 1909 and setting poems from Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, has long been a May Festival mainstay among the choral-orchestral warhorses in its repertoire. The May Festival Chorus, CSO and guest soloists baritone Norman Garrett and soprano Nicole Cabell (a last-minute replacement for an indisposed Tamara Wilson) gave one of the more unique interpretations of this work in the last few years.
It’s uniqueness mostly derived from Măcelaru’s choices of tempo across all four movements. Unlike most conductors who tackle this symphony at a more broad, slower pace, tonight’s performance somehow felt much more rushed and quick-spirited, which hindered the chorus and orchestra to varying degrees (mostly in the first and last movements). All this despite the assembled musicians being in excellent form. Garrett was in excellent voice, with a secure, precise sound and plush timbre. Soprano Cabell was slightly less so, as her sound did not carry through to the Music Hall audience or over the orchestra and chorus as much as it should have. Her softer moments, however, were more firm in their execution.
While this may not have been the most exciting May Festival performance this season based solely on Măcelaru’s leadership, the final round of performances next week does bode well for what is to come.
Bravi.