2012.02.13
Roanoke Symphony Orchestra review: RSO delivers romance and rapture
Washington and Lee University professor Timothy Gaylard provides our review of RSO’s Valentine’s concert that took place Sunday — please feel free to let us know if you agree or disagree. (RSO performs the same program 8 p.m. tonight at the Jefferson Center. Tickets: $22-$50; Students $8. Click this link for more info.)
Concert review: Symphony delivers romance and rapture
By Timothy Gaylard
The Roanoke Symphony, under the direction of David Stewart Wiley, offered up a delightfully varied collection of musical treats at Jefferson Center on the Sunday before Valentine’s Day.
The near-capacity crowd of 825 was inspired and entertained by a thoughtfully original group of pieces crossing through various styles and idioms. In the first half of the program, the highlight was Howard Hanson’s Symphony No. 2, subtitled the “Romantic.” This American work from the early 20th century deserves to be heard more often, and Wiley made quite a successful case for it by conducting it with passion and musicality. All sections of the orchestra responded appropriately with a lush string sound, sensitive wind solos and a forceful brass coloration, played almost flawlessly.
The second half opened with two Viennese favorites by Johann Strauss Jr., performed with requisite verve and lilt. But the most moving moments of the afternoon came with the hauntingly beautiful Adagietto from Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, thought to be a musical love letter to the composer’s wife, Alma.
Here the strings had their crowning moment, ably supported by harpist Anastasia Jellison, as they spun out the long, tender phrases, soaring to heights of musical tension and dying away to a whisper. At the end of this performance, there was absolute silence, the sign of an audience’s true rapture. The set program closed out with the familiar and popular melodies from Bernstein’s “West Side Story,” prompting an almost instantaneous standing ovation.
Wiley then generously and enthusiastically conducted two encores — a humorous “The Waltzing Cat” by Leroy Anderson, followed by an exhilarating version of the swing classic “Sing, Sing, Sing,” featuring the soulful clarinet playing of Carmen Eby and the superb drumming of Bill Ray.
