Tonight marks the official opening of the Oregon Symphony season – it’s the gala concert with violin soloist Joshua Bell. The concert is selling well, but there seem to be tickets at all price levels available, so grab one or two quickly if you’re so inclined.
The Lalo Symphonie Espagnole that features Josh is very well known to violinists (or violists who started on the violin), but it’s less well known to audiences. It is a delightful piece in five movements that really seeks to capture the varying moods of old Spain. It features sparkling writing for the solo violin that is being effortlessly played by Bell.
The rest of the program is a potpourri of sorts. The concert opens with the overture to Maskarade by Carl Nielsen, a virtuoso tour de force for the entire orchestra (especially the strings). This is contrasted by the piece which takes up the rest of the first half, the suite from the opera The Tender Land, by Aaron Copland, which is all Americana and sweetness. The Lalo starts the second half, and the rollicking Enescu Romanian Rhapsody No. 1 concludes the concert in grand style.