UTAH SYMPHONY’S KATHRYN EBERLE SHINES AS SOLOIST IN BERNSTEIN’S SERENADE

UTAH SYMPHONY, Abravanel Hall, April 11; second performance 8 p.m. April 12, tickets at 801-355-2787, 888-451-2787 or www.utahsymphony.org 

This weekend the Utah Symphony features one of its own as soloist.

Associate concertmaster Kathryn Eberle is in the spotlight in Leonard Bernstein’s Serenade, after Plato’s Symposium. Scored for strings, harp and percussion, the Serenade is one of Bernstein’s best classical works. While there are jazz elements in the piece, notably in the final movement, the work overall is in a much more serious idiom than most of his other symphonic works.

It’s also a good vehicle for the soloist; it gives the violinist ample opportunities to display her technical and expressive talents. And Eberle wowed the audience Friday with her musical chops. She played the work commandingly, with cleanly defined articulation and eloquent expressiveness. In fact, she played it as if the piece had been written for her.

And under music director Thierry Fischer’s baton, there was a finely crafted balance between the soloist and the ensemble. They complemented each other wonderfully.

There were also many fine solo moments for the orchestra as well. Of particular note was the duet between Eberle and acting principal cello Matthew Johnson in the fourth movement. The two played off each other with gorgeously crafted phrasings and beautifully molded lyricism.

Bernstein’s raucous overture to Candide was also on the program, and given a sparkling reading by Fischer and his band.

The concert opened with Mozart’s string divertimento Eine kleine Nachtmusik. The strings gave a crisply articulated, precise and nuanced account of the work. The only downside to the performance was Fischer’s overly fast tempo for the Andante and Minuet movements. Aside from that, it was an entertaining reading.

Closing out the evening was Carl Nielsen’s imposing Symphony No. 5. Nielsen takes his listeners on an emotional journey in this two-movement work. It’s dark and fraught with a nervous tension that barely finds some release towards the end of the second movement.

Fischer and the orchestra gave a superb reading that captured the intensity and anguish that courses throughout the two movements. It was a powerful performance that was honest and sincere and imbued with a rugged expressiveness that served the music well.