Music Review

Masterworks season closes with fireworks

Saturday night's Arkansas Symphony Orchestra concert might as well have been called Fireworks instead of Masterworks.

The season closer for the Stella Boyle Smith Masterworks Series sent up a trio of musical sparks, Roman candles of classical repertoire -- pieces that musicians love to play and audiences love to hear.

Conductor Philip Mann started the evening with Mozart's Symphony No. 41 in C Major, K. 551, nicknamed the "Jupiter" symphony, which the composer himself might never have heard performed.

In his opening remarks, Mann noted the piece's "deep sensuality" in the interplay of themes between different sections of the orchestra.

The showiest lights of the evening came with pianist Yeol Eum Son's energetic performance of Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, Op. 26.

The slender Korean pianist, a winner of the prestigious Cliburn Competition, threw herself into the piece, at times bent over so far that her hair brushed the keys, at times coming off the piano bench for extra oomph in the loudest chords. The first movement was so thrilling that the audience couldn't help itself, giving the piece a nearly involuntary ovation.

The evening finished with a piece that demonstrates why Richard Strauss could have been a film score composer if moving pictures had existed in his day: the Der Rosenkavalier, Op. 59 Suite from his most popular opera. The sections of lush runaway waltz, preceded by a long drum roll and accented by joyous cymbals, would be the aural equivalent of a fireworks grand finale.

Mann also took a moment to recognize two musicians retiring from the orchestra after this season: cellist Daniel Cline, after 14 years with the orchestra, and bassoonist Elizabeth Martinez, after an impressive 25 years.

The concert will be performed again at 3 p.m. today at the Maumelle Performing Arts Center, 100 Victory Lane. More information is available at (501) 666-1761.

Metro on 04/12/2015

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