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Musically, most of the goodies -- and Stoltzman's choicest bravura -- occurred in the preceding two movements. Particularly touching were the forlorn flights of the elegy written for Corigliano's father, a longtime New York Philharmonic concertmaster. Here Stoltzman floated in over an eerie orchestral carpet, circled around CSO concertmaster Leem's ethereal solo in a symbolic father-son duet, and soared over the filigree of Bette Roth's harp.
This is where the pre-performance primer from Eddins and Stoltzman paid off most handsomely. Fear of modernity took a fearful beating at the Belk.
Many Carolinas Concert Association subscribers, young and old, may have entered Belk Theater unaware of the many achievements and honors racked up by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra over the past 28 years, including three Grammys. But few of them left last Monday doubting or disputing their merit.
The compact 32-piece outfit, playing all night without a conductor, began with a refreshingly abrasive reading of Mozart's Symphony #25 that sounded very much like my favorite original instrument recording. Then they greeted their guests, The L.A. Guitar Quartet, and pounced on the piece these four personable virtuosi were born to play, Joaquin Rodrigo's Concerto Andaluz (1967). Outfitted with a magical adagio reminiscent of Rodrigo's famed Aranjuez, this concerto breaks irrepressibly into double time midway through the slow movement, subsides celestially, and then romps home amid flourishes of brass.
Smiling string players left the stage after intermission to the somber wind players, who lovingly caressed Dvorak's Serenade in D Minor. Along with the Rodrigo, that made two treasurable musical discoveries for the evening. Fine beginning for CCA's 72nd season, appropriately dedicated to the late Herman Blumenthal.*