Audience responds to new conductor's work.

Byline: John Farnworth For The Register-Guard

The excitement of hearing and watching the Eugene Symphony's new conductor, Danail Rachev, at work was evident Thursday in the nearly sold-out Silva Concert Hall.

The audience seemed especially attentive, listening to and watching with rapt attention the young Bulgarian work his magic with Eugene's finest musicians.

The handicap of having to conduct music he did not choose and had not conducted before did not dampen the enthusiasm and vitality with which he imbued the music and the musicians.

In short, he gave a resounding repudiation of the flimsy argument that conductors are on stage to amuse the audience and don't add anything to the actual performance. He was particularly effective in the Tchaikovsky symphony after intermission.

The program began with Robert Schumann's Overture to Genoveva, Op. 81. It is a taut, well-written piece, commencing with languorous, ominous work by the strings and horns, building to a presto, with nervous strings playing broken chords, and fine contributions from the flutes, trumpets and horns. Rachev's conducting was dynamic, as he built a fine degree of tension as the work progressed and concluded.

Well-known pianist Benedetto Lupo was the soloist in Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 16. The first movement, Allegro moderato, began with brilliant, thunderous chords and octaves ranging across the full spectrum of the Steinway's keyboard.

Lupo displayed his mastery of this concerto in the first few measures, his use of dynamic contrasts and breathtaking rubato revealing his familiarity with the outer and inner workings of the piece.

There were striking contrasts in the pianist's approach to the fast and slow sections of the movement; and the cadenza was dark and dynamic, building to a huge crashing climax.

There were some beautiful contributions from various sections of the orchestra; the cellos, in particular, were warm and sweet. The trumpets, trombones and horns shone, the flutes (particularly principal Kristen Halay) were exquisite. There were some missed notes here and there, and some slow entrances.

The second movement, Adagio, was highlighted by the gloriously muted strings, and some beautiful work by David Kruse on the principal horn. The last movement, Allegro moderato, was shot through with boldly played contrasting themes, with the piano dominating and with memorable playing by the horns, flutes, and Michael Anderson's plangent clarinet doubling the flute. There was majestic brass in the conclusion.

I did feel, in the concerto, that it was the pianist who was in charge, rather than an equal distribution of control by pianist and conductor.

P.I. Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 in F minor concluded the program and was a huge crowd pleaser. The first movement, Andante-Moderato, opens with great flourishes by horns, trumpets, trombones and tuba, as they announce the main theme, identified by the composer as fate. The bassoons, clarinets and flutes played their important parts exquisitely, with some lovely dialogue between them and the principal horn.

The second movement, Andantino, is almost a miniature concertino for oboe, here played with aching beauty by Kelly Gronli. There also was some beautiful individual playing, particularly by clarinet, bassoon and flute, but some other sections seemed to lack coordination and momentum. Perhaps more rehearsal time was needed.

The third movement, Scherzo, was highlighted by crisp, well-coordinated pizzicato in all the strings, from violins to double basses, throughout the entire piece. The piccolo squealed a bit, but it was a nicely done movement.

The last movement, finale allegro, reminded us that the composer was the same man who wrote the 1812 Overture. Great clashes in the percussion (particularly by the cymbals) and brass, were followed by a Russian folk song played by strings and woodwinds.

The brass and percussion came roaring back to finish the symphony, with more cymbal clashes per minute than anywhere else in music.

Welcome, Maestro Rachev.

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John Farnworth of Vida reviews classical music for The Register-Guard.