Forget lofty statements and deep emotions. Friday evening’s Colorado Symphony performance in Boettcher Concert Hall put pleasure over profundity, and it was a treat from start to finish.
Conductor laureate Marin Alsop and the orchestra spotlighted Russia, but this was not the angst-ridden utterances of Dmitri Shostakovich or the revolutionary sounds of Igor Stravinsky.
Instead, they took listeners into a romantic and post-romantic sonic world where the emphasis was on stunning orchestral colors, breathtaking melodies and lush harmonies.
Alsop picked not symphonies or concertos but evocative, action-packed works by three of the country’s most celebrated composers – Alexander Borodin, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
This was high-energy, heart-pumping, adrenaline-rushing music that painted vivid musical pictures, spun fanciful tales and carried listeners to faraway lands. The evening’s centerpiece was a striking version of Rachmaninoff’s “Symphonic Dances,” an oddly under-performed work the orchestra has not played since 1993. Unlike the composer’s all-too-familiar piano concertos, it still sounds fresh and unexpected.
Alsop brought form and unity to this big, sweeping composition, which covers an enormous range of moods and sounds. She adroitly balanced the explosive climaxes with compelling intimate moments, such as a woodwind interlude early on.
Although it can be irresistibly beautiful, this music is never insipid or saccharine, probably because its precisely defined structure and rhythmic drive – so intensely realized in this performance – give it an all-important backbone.
Exoticism and energy also marked Alsop’s electric, up-tempo version of the “Polovtsian Dances” from Borodin’s “Prince Igor,” and her handsome take on Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Capriccio espagnol.”
The concert opened with Jeri Lynne Johnson leading a clear, cleanly conducted version of Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Russian Easter Overture.” As a Taki Concordia Fellow, she is receiving mentoring from Alsop.
The concert will be repeated at 2:30 p.m. today.
