UTAH SYMPHONY, Abravanel Hall, Sept. 21; additional performance 8 p.m. Sept. 22, tickets at 801-355-2787, 888-451-2787, www.utahsymphony.org
Last week the Utah Symphony and Thierry Fischer served up an all-Russian program that included a couple of works by the always popular Sergei Rachmaninoff.
This weekend’s program is another Russian affair, this time featuring a pair of works by another Sergei – Rachmaninoff’s younger countryman, Sergei Prokofiev.
Apparently programming two by Prokofiev is risky business in Utah, since attendance at Friday’s concert was dismal. Not even the carrot that Fischer dangled in front of the concert going public in the form of Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition could entice people into Abravanel Hall.
What they missed was a splendid performance by the orchestra and this weekend’s soloist, the young Russian violinist Alina Ibragimova.
The first half of the program was devoted to Prokofiev: the suite from his opera The Love for Three Oranges, which received its Utah Symphony premiere, followed by the First Violin Concerto.
Prokofiev puts the musicians through their paces in the suite. It’s an extremely demanding score, but the players acquitted themselves wonderfully. And Fischer captured the colors and shadings of the music with his thoughtful direction. It was a vibrant and rewarding experience hearing this work played as well as it was Friday.
Counteracting the brashness of the music in the suite is the First Violin Concerto. This is a much more lyrical work that demands a broad palette of expressions from the soloist and the orchestra.
Ibragimova, who is making her Utah Symphony debut this weekend, played the work with a beautiful tone and gorgeously crafted expressiveness. She brought out the transparent textures, particularly in the wispy scherzo, with her dexterous playing. And Fischer elicited a nuanced accompaniment from the orchestra that complemented Ibragimova’s playing.
Closing the concert was yet another performance of Mussorgsky’s venerable Pictures at an Exhibition. This wasn’t Fischer’s best outing – he tackled the work with a heavy hand that reminded one of his predecessor. But to Fischer and the musicians’ credit, the Utah Symphony could never have played as articulately as it did Friday under its past music director.
The highlight of the performance was Daron Bradford’s exquisitely played saxophone solo in “The Old Castle.”