REVIEW: Springfield Symphony Orchestra, “Something New”

Symphony Hall, Springfield, MA

www.springfieldsymphony.org

April 19, 2025

by Michael J. Moran

In her first return engagement since a triumphant SSO debut two seasons ago, guest conductor JoAnn Falletta, Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic since 1999, followed a world premiere with two popular favorites.

McAllister and Chooi

She opened the concert with the “something new” of its title, the world premiere performance of “Eventide,” a 2023 concerto by Kenneth Fuchs for alto saxophone, harp, percussion, and string orchestra. A series of variation on the spirituals “Mary Had a Baby” and “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," though neither tune is directly quoted, it balanced moods of pastoral calm with jazzy effervescence. Internationally acclaimed saxophonist Timothy McAllister was a nimble and virtuosic soloist, and the ensemble offered colorful support. Fuchs, who teaches composition at the University of Connecticut, took the stage to a warm ovation.

Next came a dramatic reading of the beloved 1844 “Violin Concerto in E minor” by Felix Mendelssohn, written in three movements played without pause. To a mercurial opening movement, a tender “Andante,” and a fleet-footed finale, Nikki Chooi, concertmaster of the Buffalo Philharmonic and an international soloist of growing stature, brought technical finesse and interpretive poise. Falletta and the SSO were committed partners.

This being a rare concert with two guest soloists, Chooi and McAllister gave a rip-roaring joint encore, creatively arranged for violin and saxophone, of Vittorio Monti’s famous 1910 “Czardas,” a Hungarian-style dance which they dispatched with abandon and hilarity.      

The program closed with a brilliant account of Modest Mussorgsky’s 1874 suite for solo piano, “Pictures at an Exhibition,” as orchestrated by Maurice Ravel in 1922. It depicts ten paintings by Mussorgsky’s friend Viktor Hartmann in a memorial tribute to the artist, several linked by a recurring but varied “Promenade,” as the viewer moves through the gallery. Highlights included: a playful “Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks;” a demoniacal “Hut on Fowl’s Legs,” the home of the Russian witch Baba Yaga; and a majestic closing “Great Gate at Kiev.” Brass and percussion players deserve special praise for their stellar contributions to this performance.

Video projections behind the stage of six surviving Hartmann paintings and related images by “visual choreographer” Adrian Wyard offered entertaining and imaginative commentary.

The next SSO concert will take place on May 3, 2025.