Star-Ledger praises Brahms and Mozart program

May 5, 2015

The Star-Ledger writes:

At the Mayo Performing Arts Center on Sunday, [guest conductor Xian Zhang] once again proved a thrilling leader who has already established a strong rapport with the orchestra. The program showed her interacting with the orchestra in a variety of contexts – a concerto featuring two principal players as soloists, a smaller-scale chamber piece and a symphonic classic.

In each one, her innate musicality and ability to communicate intention with clarity invested every gesture. Nothing seemed extraneous or glossed over, even as her whole body seemed to contract and release with explosive energy.

In Brahms' Concerto for Violin and Cello concertmaster Eric Wyrick and principal cellist Jonathan Spitz took center stage. From its declamatory three-note opening motives onward through sweeping melodies and violent exclamations, Zhang culled a deep, concentrated orchestral sound and crisp cutoffs. Layers of the score came through cleanly without sacrificing dimension.

In the elaborately unspooling lines of the work, Spitz gave an authoritative, nuanced turn, with singing moments as well as brawny displays of power and virtuosity.

Although Wyrick's tone was sometimes comparably thin and some of the more agitated passages could have been played with more polish, the two had an appealing rapport, particularly in the ballad-like middle movement.

The performance came across as a supportive partnership between orchestra and soloists, with hints of obsession and lovely cascading strings in the dramatic opening movement, and a rambunctious edge to the gypsy-tinged finale.

Before Strauss' Serenade for Winds, Zhang spoke to the audience about how the composer wrote a particular chorale with his father in mind, encouraging active listening and personal connection. The NJSO musicians played the lyrical work, which contains episodes of mysterious, sprite-like animation, with glowing, richly textured sound.

Mozart's Symphony No. 39 concluded the program on a high note. Zhang imbued the work with character, by turns grand, gracious, delicate, pert and tense, with distinct shifts yet a sense of overall fluidity and forward motion.

With a focus on melody that called to mind the composer's operas, her interpretation also deftly combined the briskness of recently popular period performances with the hearty tone and lush drama of more modern interpretations. Her rhythmic verve served the Menuetto nicely, and the NJSO played generously in the bustling, jocular finale, giving vigorous life to its playful repetitions, variations and unexpected twists.

Read the full review at nj.com.

Back to In The News