Bushnell, Belding Theater, Hartford, CT
www.hartfordsymphony.org
October 17-19, 2025
by Michael J. Moran
For the second weekend of the HSO’s 2025-2026 “Masterworks” series, guest conductor Viswa Subbaraman and piano soloist Drew Petersen, both making distinguished HSO debuts, presented a well-balanced program of music by three diverse composers..
The concert opened with a radiant account of the rarely heard 1903 “Helios Overture,” by Danish composer Carl Nielsen. Named after the Greek god of the sun and written during a stay in Athens, Nielsen wrote this description in the score: “Silence and darkness – then the sun climbs in joyous paean of praise – wanders its golden path – sinks tranquilly into the sea.” The HSO and Subbaraman
portrayed this atmospheric day in the sun with power and sensitivity.
Petersen next soloed in a commanding rendition of the third piano concerto, completed in 1803, by Ludwig van Beethoven. From a forceful opening “Allegro con brio” and a rapturous “Largo,” which Richard Rodda’s program notes aptly call “an extended song – a marvelous juxtaposition of hymnal tranquility and operatic love scene,” to a vigorous “Rondo: Allegro,” ending in a burst of major-key energy, the charismatic pianist played this masterpiece of Beethoven’s early maturity with technical finesse and emotional depth. Orchestra and conductor offered resourceful support.
A standing ovation called the 2018 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient back to the stage for an exquisitely sensuous reading of Claude Debussy’s familiar 1905 “Clair de Lune” (“Moonlight”), holding the audience in silent thrall for five minutes.
The program closed with a thrilling performance of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius’s longest and best known symphony, his second, written in 1901-1902. Subbaraman’s long experience conducting operas served him especially well in this dramatic work. A buoyant opening “Allegretto,” a tempestuous “Tempo Andante, ma rubato,” an exuberant “Vivacissimo” (“as fast as possible”), with a pastoral slow interlude, and an alternately somber and joyous “Allegretto moderato” finale, closing with a triumphant brass chorale, brought the audience to its feet. Both this conductor and this pianist would clearly be welcome return visitors to Hartford.
The HSO’s next Masterworks program (November 14-16) will feature HSO Assistant Conductor Adam Kerry Boyles leading music by Antonin Dvorak and Sergei Rachmaninoff, with cellist Tommy Mesa in Dvorak’s cello concerto.
by Michael J. Moran
For the second weekend of the HSO’s 2025-2026 “Masterworks” series, guest conductor Viswa Subbaraman and piano soloist Drew Petersen, both making distinguished HSO debuts, presented a well-balanced program of music by three diverse composers..
The concert opened with a radiant account of the rarely heard 1903 “Helios Overture,” by Danish composer Carl Nielsen. Named after the Greek god of the sun and written during a stay in Athens, Nielsen wrote this description in the score: “Silence and darkness – then the sun climbs in joyous paean of praise – wanders its golden path – sinks tranquilly into the sea.” The HSO and Subbaraman
 |
| photo courtesy of Drew Petersen |
Petersen next soloed in a commanding rendition of the third piano concerto, completed in 1803, by Ludwig van Beethoven. From a forceful opening “Allegro con brio” and a rapturous “Largo,” which Richard Rodda’s program notes aptly call “an extended song – a marvelous juxtaposition of hymnal tranquility and operatic love scene,” to a vigorous “Rondo: Allegro,” ending in a burst of major-key energy, the charismatic pianist played this masterpiece of Beethoven’s early maturity with technical finesse and emotional depth. Orchestra and conductor offered resourceful support.
A standing ovation called the 2018 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient back to the stage for an exquisitely sensuous reading of Claude Debussy’s familiar 1905 “Clair de Lune” (“Moonlight”), holding the audience in silent thrall for five minutes.
The program closed with a thrilling performance of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius’s longest and best known symphony, his second, written in 1901-1902. Subbaraman’s long experience conducting operas served him especially well in this dramatic work. A buoyant opening “Allegretto,” a tempestuous “Tempo Andante, ma rubato,” an exuberant “Vivacissimo” (“as fast as possible”), with a pastoral slow interlude, and an alternately somber and joyous “Allegretto moderato” finale, closing with a triumphant brass chorale, brought the audience to its feet. Both this conductor and this pianist would clearly be welcome return visitors to Hartford.
The HSO’s next Masterworks program (November 14-16) will feature HSO Assistant Conductor Adam Kerry Boyles leading music by Antonin Dvorak and Sergei Rachmaninoff, with cellist Tommy Mesa in Dvorak’s cello concerto.
