GREENSBORO – The third and last concert in the Caspian Music summer series was held on Sunday evening, August 18, at he Highland Center for the Arts in Greensboro, featuring the Caspian Music Festival Orchestra of over 30 players in works by Vivaldi, Mendelssohn and Beethoven.
The program began with the “Concerto RV461 in A Minor for Oboe and Strings” by Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741), with Igor Leschishin as the obor soloist and Toshiyuki Shimado as the conductor. The first movement, Allegro non molto had a very orderly rhythm, and the oboe immediately shined in Leschishin’s superb breath control, which made the fine melodies sing with their baroque trills. Vivaldi’s music has parallels to Venetian painting, in having a lot of color in its rich harmonies.
The second section was a Larghetto in a slower tempo, soaring up in a great development of the theme, with the oboe dominating and the orchestra more of a background continuo.
The third part, an Allegro, had interesting rhythms at a faster pace. Leschishin’s mastery of his instrument really showed here in his pure tone and expressive interpretation.
Next was the “Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in E minor, Op. 64,” by Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), written over a period of six years in consultation wit violinist Fernand David and first performed in 1845. Solomiya Ivakhiv played the violin here in a truly electrifying manner that gave one the feeling that this was exactly how the composer would have wanted it to be done. Toshiyuki Shimado conducted the full chamber orchestra with penultimate coordination.
The concerto began with an Allegro molto appasionato, and the scoring “passionate” was an understatement for the beautiful engaging melody that emerged right from the first bars, soon metamorphizing into a second gorgeous theme, all of which Ivakhiv sailed through with an exact technique and intense emotion, as well as fine phrasing in the dynamics. She had real feeling in her bow upon the strings in this challenging piece, with exquisite moments of breathtaking beauty, especially in the extended cadenza with imaginative improvisations in the middle of the movement.
With hardly a break, the work continued into the second part, an Andante in a more moderate tempo, with two broad, generous themes lovingly developed. The third section, Allegro non Troppo, brough in more drama from the brasses, woodwinds and percussion in conjunction with the violin line, while the last movement, a third Allegro (molto) had yet more memorable melodies that drove to a triumphal ending. Everyone in the audience rose to their feet in a spontaneous standing ovation for her exceptional performance.
The last work in the concert was the “Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op.36,” by Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827), composed in 1802. Even in his earliest works, almost everything Beethoven wrote had a monumental quality, and at a politically revolutionary time in Europe, he was making his own revolution in music in a decisive break from the 18th Century. This can be seen in how he starts even the first notes of his symphonies, piano sonatas and other chamber music, and here in the first movement, Adagio molto-Allegro con brio, there was drama in the initial bar of the introduction, proceeding in a slow tempo where the initial melody was shared in succession by the flute, bassoon, clarinet and English horn above the strings.
The main melody took off in the Allegro con brio section in a much faster speed with changes in the rhythms and abrupt stops, in the typical “expect the unexpected” mode of Beethoven’s scoring. His frequent use of the kettledrums added texture to the orchestration beyond previous traditions. The Larghetto of the second movement had a particularly beautiful, classic, haunting melody with great sweeping feeling and powerful harmonies, truly transcendental. The third part, Scherzo, Allegro had broken rhythms with unanticipated shifts that made one wonder what is going to come next, while the last section, Allegro molto, had great momentum and fine melodies culminating in a jubilant finale. Throughout, Toshiyuki Shimado conducted the chamber orchestra with consummate precision and splendid high energy, which brought about a second standing ovation from the appreciative audience.
This was a great season for the three Caspian Music programs, and we certainly look forward to their return next summer. Theodate Coates and the Rodney Corporation have generously sponsored these concerts for many years and deserve our deepest gratitude.
David K. Rodgers
David K. Rodgers is a writer, mason and card carrying dilettante, who dabbles and babbles in art. He has lived in East Craftsbury for the past 40 years.
