YOUNGSTOWN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Conductor gets tryouts off to rousing beginning

Two more candidates will perform with the orchestra.
By TILL M. MEYNand LAURA S. MEYN
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENTS
YOUNGSTOWN -- Classical music fans received their first glimpse of the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra's possible future Wednesday as Jonathan McPhee conducted the first of three preview concerts by the candidates for music director.
Daniel Meyer of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will lead the next preview concert Tuesday. The third and final candidate, Randall Craig Fleischer of Los Angeles, who leads symphonies in New York, Alaska and Arizona, will take to the podium June 9. All of the preview concerts are being held at Ford Family Recital Hall.
During his preconcert talk, McPhee, a Boston resident who leads several orchestras there, discussed the eight composers on the evening's program, using entertaining anecdotes about their personalities paired with musical examples to bring to life the concert that followed.
McPhee said that Samuel Barber was known to compose very deliberately, but while working on his "Adagio for Strings," something was different: The music seemed to already exist and Barber simply had to write it down. Indeed, McPhee's performance of that piece conveyed its organic beginnings. His faster-than-typical tempo caused the dramatic points of arrival to seem less strained than usual, giving a feeling of liberation.
Restraint
McPhee let the music speak for itself once the concert began, keeping his comments to a minimum and keeping a concert that might have been long trimmed down to less than 90 minutes.
McPhee's restraint also showed itself in his conducting technique as the concert began. From the first piece, "Russlan and Ludmilla Overture" by Glinka, McPhee demonstrated that tight gestures could go a long way toward creating a big sound. His clear conducting patterns, his expression of dynamic changes through body language, his precise cues and his eye contact with the musicians translated successfully into a rousing start.
With the beginning of the second half of the concert, McPhee allowed "The Romanticism of Finlandia" by Sibelius to widen his gestures, resulting in lush harmonies and offering the fullest sound of the concert.
The acoustics of the new venue also played a part. The initial brass entrance reverberated fully in the hall, with the wooden stage and walls creating a wonderful sounding board.
Program
The concert's program, which will be essentially the same for the remaining two candidates, was a good mix of classic hits, ranging from Baroque to 20th century works. McPhee seemed to have the strongest command of the larger Romantic pieces, tapping into their excitement, dynamic range, expressiveness and virtuosity.
During Brahms' Symphony No. 2 (fourth movement), the orchestra followed McPhee fearlessly into a faster-than-usual tempo, which suited the piece very well.
Faster tempos weren't McPhee's only show of gutsiness. In the program's final piece, a conductor's choice, McPhee lead the symphony in Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4, a difficult and fast-paced work. He conveyed the light touch that is necessary to pull off a performance of this fast Italian finale while providing the dramatic expressiveness for which Mendelssohn is known. The woodwinds wove masterfully in and out of the texture as the strings provided sweeping melodic gestures and punctuated chords.
McPhee's ability to communicate with and connect to the musicians translated to the audience, which gave the group a lengthy and well-deserved round of applause.