UTAH SYMPHONY, BRANT BAYLESS, VIOLA, JUN MÄRKL, CONDUCTOR, Abravanel Hall, March 2; second performance March 3, 8 p.m., tickets at 801-355-2787 or 888-451-2787 or www.utahsymphony.org

Brant Bayless

What a remarkable night at the symphony! Everything worked well: Utah Symphony principal viola Brant Bayless did a fine job representing the orchestra with a graceful solo performance; the evening’s guest conductor, Jun Märkl, brought something extra to the concert; and the musical selections were all top notch works of art that commanded the audience’s attention.

The wonderful evening actually didn’t start out too promisingly. Shortly after the first downbeat, there was a surprisingly out of tune chord in the woodwinds and a messy articulation in the horns. Soon after, though, the orchestra settled down and gave one of their top performances in recent memory.

Richard Strauss’s tone poem Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks was up first. It was immediately apparent that Märkl is a top notch conducting talent. His gestures were musical, graceful and effective. During the opening piece he brought out many expressive moments from the orchestra and conducted with plenty of energy to spare.

Next was Toru Takemitsu’s A String Around Autumn, a composition from 1989 featuring Bayless playing the solo viola part. While the orchestra’s recent performances of modern works may have been somewhat polarizing, there were few in the audience who had trouble appreciating the sheer beauty on display in this particular work.

The piece was commissioned for an event in Paris, and the composer responded with a work that has clear French impressionist influences. Takemitsu didn’t seem content to simply recreate the impressionist sound, but rather chose to use it as a starting point and then move beyond what had been done before.

A String Around Autumn contained harmony and orchestration that was reminiscent of the best moments from Debussy and Ravel, but with an added layer of complexity and expression. The composer spoke of this music as being an “imaginary landscape” during autumn, and the music was extraordinary in its ability to convey the scene. Bayless approached the solo with confidence and grace, always fitting perfectly into the texture of the music. The viola’s warm tone and deep voice seemed to be perfectly suited for the task of presenting autumnal colors, and together the musicians evoked a variety of moods, never straying from the blissful soundscape that the composer masterfully summoned.

Jun Märkl (Photo: Christiane Höhne)

The final half of the concert was taken up by Johannes Brahms’ monumental Symphony No. 1. Brahms was 43 by the time the work was completed, and had spent much of his compositional life up to that point developing the work.  Perhaps this was an effort to distinguish himself from Beethoven, whom he called “the giant marching behind me.”

The time spent in preparation obviously paid off. The work is a classic in the symphony genre for good reason: it is 45 minutes of music spread across four movements that seems to have almost no weaknesses. The music is arresting and powerful, and took Beethoven’s romanticism to grand new heights without straying too much from the standard symphonic form. The orchestra really hit the nail on the head with their performance of the work. Märkl and the orchestra had a remarkable synergy, and unless one knew better it would have been safe to assume that they had been working together for years.

There are some concerts that shouldn’t be missed. This is one of those concerts. Bravo!