UTAH SYMPHONY, Abravanel Hall, Friday; second performance today 8 p.m. (801-355-2787)

Benjamin Britten's Violin Concerto has never been played with any frequency since its premiere in 1940. Yet it's a captivating work, well orchestrated and compelling in its intensity and effect. But it's an extremely demanding piece for the soloist — a major reason, no doubt, for its neglect.

It's gratifying that the Utah Symphony has dusted it off and offered it this weekend as a welcome alternative to the endless repetition of the standard violin concerto fare that the symphony plays. And with Ralph Matson as soloist, it makes the experience all the better.

Matson is a wonderful concertmaster and a remarkable solo performer, who is in possession of great technique and expressive musicality. And both are needed in the Britten to bring it off successfully.

And Matson delivered. He gave a stunning account Friday evening under the baton of Keith Lockhart.

The opening movement is predominantly lyrical in character and Matson's playing was wonderfully fluid and expressive.

In contrast, the second movement is jagged and rough. It's a whirlwind of sound that's only briefly interrupted by a lyrical section. Matson played it forcefully, capturing the intensity of the music convincingly, yet without being overbearing; everything was nicely balanced.

After an extended cadenza that tests the mettle of the soloist, and which Matson played with radiant musicality, the finale again returns to the lyricism of the first movement, but with an even greater sense of urgency and a dark undercurrent. Matson played it with great sensitivity, wondrous expression and sweet poignancy.

Dmitri Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony was also on the program. Without question his best known work, it's a brooding and sprawling work filled with bold statements and raw energy.

Lockhart captured this surprisingly well. He brought nuanced sensibility to his reading and kept everything finely balanced. It wasn't a bombastic explosion as one might expect from him. Rather, it was articulate and wonderfully crafted.

The concert opened with Mozart's overture to "Don Giovanni."

---

E-mail: ereichel@desnews.com