Symphony weekend

Here's the review:

Occasionally an artist appears out of the blue and performs so magnificently that you are unexpectedly swept off your feet. That was the case Friday night, when Italian cellist Enrico Dindo took the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra stage and wowed with Haydn's Cello Concerto in C Major.

If Dindo wasn’t a household name to most in the small crowd Friday night, the Italian program led by the gifted conductor William Eddins was a sleeper, too. The guest conductor opened with Rossini's Overture to "La gazza ladra" (The Thieving Magpie), not played here in two decades, and closed with the orchestra's first performance of the Second Symphony of Nino Rota – better known as a composer of film scores.

Dindo, 1997 winner of the Rostropovich Competition, has focused his career in Europe, with only rare appearances in North America. As he played, first the Haydn and then an "Adagio and Variations" by Respighi, his face was as expressive as his sound, projecting pure, unmitigated joy. If only all musicians communicated with such heart and soul.

In Haydn’s C Major Concerto, one was struck immediately by the ease, beauty and lightness of his playing. Scales were tossed off like glissandos; virtuosities were effortless. He played with pinpoint precision, but his phrasing also smiled with affection.

The slow movement was lyrical and deeply interior, with a radiant cadenza. The finale was a feat of breathtaking speed and spontaneity, yet never at the expense of classical style.

Eddins and the orchestra supported him well. I only wished for more lightness of spirit in the first movement.

Respighi's "Adagio and Variations," also a first performance, offered a chance to hear Dindo project a fuller sound and a seamless, beautifully shaded line. This piece is more fantasy-like than theme-and-variations, with a lovely English horn solo (nicely played by Christopher Philpotts) and cascades for the harp.
Here the cellist called upon a big vibrato for an especially soulful sound. It was one of the most ravishing pieces you’ve never heard.

Rota is known for his Oscar-winning score to "Godfather II" and the love theme to Zeffirelli's "Romeo and Juliet." But he also studied in the United States, meeting Aaron Copland and Samuel Barber, whose influences one can sense in his Symphony No. 2, heard after intermission.

It's sort of a postcard of Taranto, Italy, with folk themes, a "tarantella" and brilliant orchestral color.

Eddins, music director of the Edmonton Symphony, has a precise, clear technique and is a dynamic leader on the podium. He led an engaging performance, inspiring unusual lightness in the strings in Rota's sweeping, almost cinematic themes, and whipping up momentum in the exuberant moments. The orchestra responded with excellent playing, with some stunning contributions from the five horns.

Rossini's Overture to "The Thieving Magpie" made a spirited opening. Go to this one.
The concert repeats at 8 p.m. Saturday in Music Hall. 513-381-3300.