Star-Ledger praises this weekend’s Vienna program

The Star-Ledger calls this weekend's NJSO program a "showcase for two young artists with strong personalities." Reviewing the Thursday-afternoon performance, the newspaper praised the talents of pianist Lise de la Salle and guest conductor Eugene Tzigane, who join the NJSO for a program of Viennese music the Orchestra repeats tonight at the State Theatre in New Brunswick and tomorrow at NJPAC in Newark:

[Tzigane's] confidence made him an effective spokesman for the works on the program, particularly as he stepped off the podium while a piano was wheeled onstage and walked comfortably toward the audience, with microphone in hand, to describe Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9, known as the "Jeunehomme."

He pointed out the composer's instruction for the pianist to play in a "cantabile," or "singing" style during the piece's Minuet. It was a quality that soloist Lise de la Salle employed often and beautifully throughout her performance.

The pianist, who was at once regal and youthful onstage, proved nicely suited to the piece, which is full of charming but not overly complicated melodies and mood shifts that add dramatic variety, but never wallow in angst.

Once the orchestra set the scene with a brisk, tension-infused opening, de la Salle opened with a light, nimble touch. Her control and discerning vision impressed in both quick, florid passages and more reflective moments. Her articulation and dynamic choices were precise, and each phrase built into the next. The interpretation was nuanced but never fussy, with sparks of energy and a pristine, rapid trill.

Her rounded tones had an effortless spring in elaborate episodes and she dug in, for an almost obsessive feeling, when it was appropriate. Her first movement cadenza was smooth and sculpted, with strength and virtuosity when she needed them but not as the focus.

Tzigane led the orchestra in a receptive performance that matched her vigor and character - first clean and patrician, then weighty and insinuating.

Read the full review.