Marin Alsop is a veritable hero in the local classical music scene, and she didn’t disappoint on the podium Friday night at Boettcher Concert Hall.
Leading the finely honed Colorado Symphony Orchestra in Antonin Dvorák’s Symphony No. 6 in D Major, the maestra threw herself into the effervescent work with polish and abandon.
The 40-minute symphony of epic proportions is a pivotal piece in Dvorák’s works, openly referencing the intensity, depth and even the darkness that is more readily attributed to his mentor, Johannes Brahms.
Alsop, the CSO’s conductor laureate, drew out the joyous flavors of Dvorák’s trademark folk influences, as well as the expressive, lush lines of the Adagio movement.
Her balanced reading of the turbulent Scherzo movement was especially trenchant, and the finale was a spirited gallop that left the audience almost as breathless as the musicians.
Shifting gears to Brahms, the elder of the two Romantic composers on the program, pianist Christopher O’Riley joined the company after intermission for an absorbing reading of Brahms’ hefty Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor.
A friend of Alsop and the CSO, O’Riley graciously stepped in as an eleventh-hour replacement for CSO music director and pianist Jeffrey Kahane, who is recovering from severe hypertension. Notwithstanding some muddied, pell-mell passages – darn those tricky trills – O’Riley, too, did not disappoint.
After the majestic orchestral introduction, the virtuoso’s artistic eloquence shone consistently throughout the grand, three-movement concerto – from his mellifluous rendering of the haunting opening chords to his soulful treatment of the rich, often melancholic sonorities so characteristic of Brahms’ piano scorings.
Save for a couple of instances when the orchestral voice overwhelmed O’Riley, orchestra and soloist maintained a steady equilibrium.
The program opened with Brahms’ playful Hungarian Dances, Nos. 19 and 21, with Rei Hotoda conducting.
The Alsop protégé – winner of the 2006 Taki Concordia Conducting Fellowship and assistant conductor of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra – directed the orchestra with remarkable energy and precision.
The petite, young maestra with the lovely pixie smile, however, doesn’t yet have the chops of her mentor.
The concert repeats today at 2:30 p.m.
