Conductor Jahja Ling returns home in triumphant program
Music director and San Diego Symphony collaborate in ‘sweet harmony’
David who?
…One of the most satisfying concerts of this Centennial Season.
Berlioz’s “Harold in Italy,” with viola soloist Cynthia Phelps, was a tour de force. Virtually every section of the orchestra, from the French horns’ flawless handling of the exposed opening passages in the second and third movements, to the lower brass driving home the exciting final movement, to the strings showing an appropriate intensity and depth of tone, especially in the somber opening.
Phelps, principal viola of the New York Philharmonic, is well known to San Diego audiences as the former principal viola of the symphony, and more recently for her frequent participation in SummerFest and Mainly Mozart. She also treated her role in the Berlioz as collaborative, attentive to what was happening in the orchestra (playing a trio with the harp and clarinets in the opening movement) and never stepping beyond the interpretive framework set by Ling, even in the most expressive moments.
This is a work of shifting moods, dynamics and tempos, but Ling made the transitions sound effortless. His pacing was masterful and the coordination between conductor and soloist was flawless.
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