Lima Symphony Orchestra’s season opens with ‘Gala Jubilee’

On Saturday evening at the Veterans Memorial Civic Center, the Lima Symphony Orchestra presented its first concert of the 2008-09 season titled "Gala Jubilee." It was a joyous event, indeed, as Artistic Director and Conductor Crafton Beck expertly led audience members around the globe with entertaining yet challenging musical selections by Richard Wagner, Peter Ilyich Tchaikowsky, Camille Saint-Saens, and Jean Sibelius.

The concert opened with the celebrated orchestral prelude to Act III of "Lohengrin," by Richard Wagner. Composed in early 1848, "Lohengrin" is the last of Wagner's works that can be labeled an opera, as opposed to a music drama. Although still rooted in tonality, it contains the seeds of future developments in Wagner's compositional style. This was a wonderful way to start the program as it was imbued with an abundance of energy and ebullience.

The audience was then transported to 19th century Russia with another operatic excerpt, the opening Act II waltz from "Eugene Onegin" by Peter Ilyich Tchaikowsky, which is based after a novel in verse by the Russian poet, Alexander Pushkin.

After working through a few ensemble issues, including some ragged entrances and a few intonation problems, the orchestra came together brilliantly for a solid performance. Once the waltz got into full swing, the ensemble rollicked along completely in sync. Audience and orchestra members alike enjoyed this exuberant selection.

The first half of the program ended its journey in France with Camille Saint Saens' Piano Concerto No. 5, Op. 103, which featured solo pianist Jennifer Lim.

Typical for Lima Symphony Orchestra concerts, Beck engages the audience through discussing the works to be performed, and Saturday night was no exception. Crafton's easygoing demeanor on stage, coupled with his sense of humor, make audience members feel welcome. He does a commendable job in elaborating upon the music, in graciously acknowledging corporate sponsors, and in eloquently and enthusiastically introducing guest artists.

A new addition to the stage for this composition was a large video screen above the orchestra that showed an overhead view of Lim seated at the piano. This enabled audience members actually to view Lim's hands in action on the keyboard.

This three-movement work begins with a fast and lively allegro animato in which the soloist immediately showed her effortless command at the piano. Her unassuming demeanor while walking on stage, coupled with her facial mannerisms and quirky pedaling, only slightly betrayed her nerves in the beginning of the first movement. However, this did not diminish her prowess at the piano, especially as Lim began to exhibit more emotion as the piece progressed. She elicited amazing colors and contrasts both musically and expressively, with fast passages virtually rolling out of her fingers. Pianist and orchestra matched precisely in intensity.

Movement II, andante, is a more passionate movement, full of beautiful and exotic music. The violin section must be commended for its fine ensemble work in the pianissimo passages; it made for several breathless and exquisite moments. Here again, Lim and the entire ensemble continued to work together in creating ethereal and expressive music.

The third movement, molto allegro, contrasts completely with movement II in terms of tempo and mood. Lim was fascinating to watch as her entire body moved with the music in an intricate and intense dance between pianist and piano. The composition ended with Lim receiving a well-deserved standing ovation.

The final stop in the evening's musical journey transported audience members to early 20th century Finland with a skillful presentation of Symphony No. 2 in D Major, by Jean Sibelius. Often aggressively modern, this motivically concentrated work is arrestingly original in its radical departure from Romantic symphonic form and its inclusion of Nordic folk elements. Symphony No. 2 is an ambitious symphonic work with multiple complex musical layers.

Movement I, allegretto, opened with a lovely pastoral melody in the strings. In some instances throughout this dramatic movement, however, a few transitional sections were executed with less than perfect cutoffs and intonation problems, which were only highlighted because the rest of the movement was so gorgeously played.

In the second movement, andante, ma rubato, the Lima Symphony Orchestra exhibited some of the most striking and poignant moments of the evening during the quiet interludes. This was especially evident in the D minor pizzicato opening in the low strings. The effect was mysterious, haunting, and suspenseful.

The final movements of Symphony No. 2 can only be described as beautiful music beautifully played. The experience of this part of the musical journey was truly memorable and triumphant. Transitional musical sections were seamless, tutti sections were completely on the mark, and all solos were well executed, culminating in a solid performance.

Lima is undeniably fortunate to have a community resource like the Lima Symphony Orchestra. This "Gala Jubilee" had much to offer, from outstanding musical programming of interesting and crowd-pleasing works, to skilful and often striking musical achievement. The evening was a thoroughly enjoyable musical journey around the world.

Dr. Michelle Latour is an associate professor of music at Bluffton University.