Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Hartford, CT
by Michael J. Moran
The first half of the third “Masterworks” program in the
current HSO season offered a historical survey of music for string orchestra
over several centuries. It played to the strengths of guest conductor Joel
Smirnoff, a former longtime violinist in the Juilliard String Quartet.
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| Joel Smirnoff |
The program opened with Pachelbel’s Canon, likely written
around 1694 but lost until 1919, which, for all its familiarity, is rarely
performed in concert. The Hartford string section gave it a warm, affectionate
reading at a steady, flowing tempo. A smaller ensemble then backed HSO
principal violist Michael Wheeler in Telemann’s 1720 Concerto in G for Viola
and Strings. Wheeler played this tuneful and appealing showpiece with a sweet,
mellifluous tone that earned him enthusiastic applause from the audience and
his colleagues alike. Orchestra keyboardist Margreet Francis gave discreet
support on harpsichord continuo in both works.
The string ensemble expanded again for a sumptuous account
of Vaughan Williams’ gorgeous Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. Premiered
in 1910, the Fantasia opens and closes with a simple 1567 melody by Elizabethan
composer Tallis and features a string quartet and a larger group which build to
a rhapsodic climax in counterpoint with the full string orchestra. Smirnoff
balanced these antiphonal forces with passion and precision.
The full orchestra appeared after intermission for a
terrific performance of Tchaikovsky’s seldom heard Symphony No. 1, called
“Winter Dreams” by the fledgling composer, who wrote it when still in his
mid-twenties. Despite its sometimes episodic structure and an overly bombastic
finale, the symphony often foreshadows the colorful orchestration and melodic
genius of the mature Tchaikovsky. The woodwind, brass, and percussion sounded
supercharged by their earlier rest period, with impressive solo turns by oboist
Stephen Wade in the dreamy “Adagio Cantabile,” principal flutist Greig Shearer
in the Mendelssohnian “Scherzo,” and bassoonist Louis Lazzerini in the opening
and closing movements.
Smirnoff brought a lively and engaging stage presence to
Hartford, earning the affection and respect of both his fellow musicians and an
appreciative audience. A return invitation to the Belding podium would clearly
seem well advised.
