Audience, musicians offer appreciation to incoming conductor

The conductor made a point of letting the music breathe between phrases.
By ROBERT ROLLIN
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
Saturday night's Powers Auditorium program marked the first concert conducted by the Youngstown Symphony's new permanent conductor, Randall Fleischer, since his new appointment.
Audience and musicians alike greeted Fleischer warmly. The choice of music was excellent, and the evening's growth pattern from small to large works was appealing.
The concert's high point was a fine reading of the massive and powerful Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64. The symphony follows the usual four-movement pattern, but adds a cyclical relationship by returning to the wonderfully expressive first-movement opening theme to start the fourth movement.
Principal clarinetist Deborah Alexander did a fine job on the portentously slow opening theme accompanied by sostenuto strings. Fleischer made a point of allowing the music to breathe between phrases.
This made the onset of the Allegro and its syncopated theme all the more effective. The individual woodwinds all did very well with their entrances as did the horns. From the outset, Fleischer controlled dynamics, making sure that surges to climactic moments were appropriately powerful. The fine first movement set the tone for the performance.
How playing went
Principal horn Stan Matras was excellent on the Andante cantabile's famous opening theme, as were the woodwinds on their counterpoints. The horn section did nobly on the repeated notes in the tutti surges to climactic moments. The strings were lovely throughout. The movement had fine shape and was marred only once by intonation problems.
The third movement waltz was graceful with ingratiating first-violin playing, good string entrances, interesting stopped horns and fine ensemble throughout. It is only in the last movement that the composer missed a few good opportunities to close. We can excuse him for this peccadillo in light of a wonderful orchestration beautifully punctuated by the brass. The orchestra played with fine teamwork, clearly delineating counterpoints and swelling effectively for climaxes.
Thunderous applause and approving glances by the musicians were the best feedback the new conductor could hope for.
Piano soloist does fine job
The Prokofiev Third Piano Concerto, a middle-size piece, was beautifully played by talented soloist Valentina Lisitsa. The opening movement used castanets to punctuate the musical texture. Lisitsa played with great energy and verve.
The expressive Theme and Variations was especially lovely in slow piano solo passages. The closing Allegro was delightful in interplay between soloist and orchestra and in the fugato passages.
The Bartok Romanian Folk Dances, the shortest piece, started the evening off in a sprightly manner.
Scored for small orchestra, it made for an intimate start with a tuneful Stick Dance, a fine clarinet solo in the Sash Dance, interesting piccolo writing in the Stomp Dance, a lively solo by concertmaster Calvin Lewis in the Horn Dance, and effective rapid passage work in the conjoined Rumanian Polka and Quick Dance.