Music Reviews

Mar 8, 2006 - Pianist James Winn and conductor Joseph Silverstein shine it on with the Reno Phil

By Jack Neal

Kudos to the Reno Philharmonic s resident conductor, Barry Jekowsky, for engaging the gifted Joseph Silverstein to guest conduct in his absence. The old adage about hiring a guest conductor “they should be good, but not too good” doesn’t seem to apply to the secure Mr. Jekowsky.

Shine it on, as they say in show business, is what Joseph Silverstein did for his duo performances with the Reno Philharmonic (Sunday, 3/5/06 and Tuesday, 3/7/06) in a program that included the formidable piano artistry of James Winn, who knows how to shine things on himself.

Winn, Silverstein and Franz Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2, with a sublime assist from cellist Peter Lenz, were a show-stopping combination. Liszt was not only a brilliant pianist and composer, but a brilliant showman as well. His second piano concerto has the lyricism and fireworks that s a challenge for virtuoso pianists to play and exciting for concertgoers to hear. Winn’s highly musical performance of flamboyance and technical virtuosity made the Liszt sing.

Dashingly played with one avalanche after another of notes in all the right places, the wonderful sense of line and lyricism that made Liszt so popular in Liszt’s lifetime lived again in the superb rendition by Winn in collaboration with Silverstein and a wonderfully in touch Reno Philharmonic. Bravo to all.

Bravo also to the conductor for a sparkling accounting of Mendelssohn’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The Mendelssohn s glittering phrases, particularly in the woodwinds, were sparklingly brought off. One of the most telling moments in rehearsal was the conductor’s comment to the woodwinds after three run-throughs of one of the more virtuoso of the scherzo’s phrases: “You do better,” Silverstein quipped, “if I stay out of the way.” And so he did, for a splendid rendition of one of the music world s most endearing works.

Silverstein’s talent for understatement was most evident in Mozart’s Symphony No. 41, the “Jupiter.” Mozart, at the end of his life and at the full peak of his creative genius, created a work of unblemished beauty. There is no hint, save possibly in the serene Andante Cantabile movement, of the melancholy brought on by Mozart’s personal and unfortunate state of affairs. “The genius of youth,” musicologist Hugo Leichtentritt wrote, “is embodied most gloriously in the touching yet luminous and joyful life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.”

Mozart’s “Jupiter” Symphony reflects the composer’s intuitive genius for creating luminous, joyful music. The unpretentiousness of Silverstein s approach was the perfect fit that created a sumptuously revelatory performance. How wonderful to have the “Jupiter” re-created by a mature conductor who knows how to breathe life into this great work of art without getting in its way. Bravo again to Joseph Silverstein for the good sense and rare gifts that provided such a warm wash of Mozartean grandeur.

Reno Philharmonic subscription concerts are played at the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts, 100 South Virginia Street, Reno, Nevada. The one remaining set of concerts in this season’s subscription series will be Sunday, April 30, and Tuesday May 2, 2006, and will feature soprano Evelyn de la Rosa, conductor Barry Jekowsky and the music of Poulenc (“Gloria”) and Mahler (Symphony No. 1). For information call 775-323-6393.