Familiar Sounds, Uncommon Offering

In case the symphony review didn't make your edition and you missed it online, here it is:

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's program Thursday night may have been familiar to many concertgoers in Music Hall. But there was nothing ordinary about this performance led by Paavo Järvi with guest pianist Garrick Ohlsson.

Britten's "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra" and Elgar's "Enigma" Variations were given performances that elevated them from the mundane to the magical. And in Ohlsson's hands, the Schumann Piano Concerto in A Minor was simply stunning for its warmth and romantic spontaneity.

Ohlsson’s career was launched 36 years ago when he won the Chopin International Piano Competition. A big man, he towers over the keyboard. Yet his touch is elegant, whether finding weight and depth in each chord or flying through pianistic figures with gossamer lightness.

The pianist communicated a sense of joy of discovery in each note of the Schumann Concerto. The first movement evolved almost like chamber music, with wonderful give-and-take between piano and winds. A dream-like episode between piano, clarinet (Jonathan Gunn)and cellos was enchanting; Ohlsson lingered on it longer than usual, for a moment of immense beauty.

His first movement cadenza matched bravura with poetry, but this concerto is not about flash. Ohlsson played the slow movement with great affection, which made the cello theme more glowing and nostalgic when it arrived. The finale was exuberant, light and quick, and Järvi and the orchestra made ideal partners.

The pianist brought down the house with his encore, Chopin's "Grand Valse Brilliante," Op. 18 – a piece every piano student plays, but never like this.

The source of the theme for Elgar's "Enigma" Variations is an enigma. But we do know that each of the 14 variations is a caricature of a person Elgar knew.

Järvi captured the disparate personalities while making it a cohesive, unified piece that evolved in one arc. He led vividly, whether drawing out the theme in a broad legato sweep or shaping a quirky, staccato passage in the winds.

The musicians gave a truly inspired performance. The seventh variation, for timpani and brass, unfolded in a spectacular display of adrenalin. The "Nimrod" Variation was veiled in extraordinary color and brought to a moving summation.

Orchestral soloists shone, such as the viola solo in No. 6 (Marna Street), the clarinet solo in the atmospheric 13th Variation (Richard Hawley) and the extroverted timpani in the finale (Richard Jensen). The brass performed with solid power and wonderful bluster throughout.

The program opened with Britten's "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra," a showpiece for all the instruments of the orchestra. This was not your stately, lyrical Britten; Järvi brought out the work’s quirkiness, and the musicians played it with flair.

Some of the spontaneity that Järvi seemed to want was not quite there yet, but there were many enjoyable moments. Among them: The harp variation, which gave principal harpist Gillian Benet Sella and her new golden harp a moment in the sun.

Both British pieces will be recorded for Telarc.

The concert repeats at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. (513) 381-3300.
E-mail jgelfand@enquirer.com