Orchestra and violinist deliver first-rate concert

Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony became a high point.
By ROBERT ROLLIN
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Youngstown Symphony opened its 2004-05 season Saturday night at Powers Auditorium with a wonderful Masterworks program featuring guest violinist Elmar Oliveira. Oliveira, the son of Portuguese immigrants and a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, is a first-rank soloist and the only American to win the gold medal at the prestigious Tchaikovsky International Competition.
The "Mendelssohn Violin Concerto" is a true chestnut, and Oliveira and the symphony did a lovely job playing it. The first movement opens full blown, without an introduction, and Oliveira's authority and beautiful tone were immediately apparent. He was especially impressive in the brilliant and challenging transitional passage to the second theme.
The woodwinds were excellent in the second movement, which Oliveira played with fine expression and luminous tone.
Exceptional skill
A few minor ensemble glitches to start the third movement, Allegro molto vivace, were only minor imperfections in a performance that displayed exceptional soloistic skill and the maturity of interactions among Oliveira, the orchestra and its talented conductor. Although the ensemble overbalanced the soloist a few times, the performance on the whole was outstanding.
Oliveira remarked that instead of his eighteenth-century Guarneri del Gesu, worth $4 million, he used a new, less-expensive violin by a living Asian-American maker. The encore was "Paganini's Thirteenth Caprice," hellishly difficult and replete with many octave passages. Oliveira was flawless in this piece too, and, though his violin was not a particularly loud one, it had remarkable timbral beauty and clarity.
Irrespective of the Mendelssohn's charm, a high point was reached in "Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony," a masterpiece of larger instrumentation and duration. The sheer plaintive beauty of the opening passages in clarinets and strings signals a troubled time in the composer's life. A failed marriage, struggles concerning his sexuality and disputes with the "Russian Five" all fed the fires of Tchaikovsky's brooding Russian soul.
Expressive, moving
The opening passage was incredibly expressive and moving. Indeed, the entire performance was first rate. Its success hangs on the effective cyclical recurrence of the main theme. Conductor Isaiah Jackson and the symphony were deftly impassioned throughout, never allowing the dark, troubled power to flag. The tempos and phrasing were appropriate to the auditorium's acoustics.
A perennial audience favorite, the second movement is exquisite, and the solo principal horn was terrific, as were the principal clarinet and oboe on their respective obligatos. Fuller textures were equally beautiful.
The sweet and graceful waltz was very well performed, with nice doublings of oboe and bassoon, flute and bassoon, a lovely oboe solo and beautiful brassy buzzing in the horns.
Tchaikovsky's misgivings about the symphony may stem from the finale's overblown length. Concluding sections seem to run a bit too long. Notwithstanding, the evening was a great success, and the symphony is to be commended on its mature and skillful performances.