Violinists + chamber orchestra = magic

UTAH SYMPHONY CHAMBER ORCHESTRA, Abravanel Hall, Thursday

Thursday's Utah Symphony Chamber Orchestra concert featured the music of three giants of the 18th century — J.S. Bach, Mozart and Haydn.

Joining the orchestra were two violinists who really need no introduction — symphony concertmaster Ralph Matson and guest Jaime Laredo, who also conducted. They were the soloists in two works, Bach's wonderful D Minor Concerto, BVW 1043, and Mozart's Third Violin Concerto in G major.

It's always a real pleasure seeing Matson step out of his weekly role as concertmaster and into the spotlight. He always brings insight and keen musicality to his playing. And when partnered with Laredo, who approaches music with the same understanding and grasp as Matson, the result is music-making of the highest order.

The Bach opened the concert. Laredo and Matson proved to be a fine duo in the piece, playing intuitively and with refined elegance and polish. Particularly expressive was the slow movement, with its slowly unfolding lines, which the two played with simple beauty and lovingly phrased articulation.

The members of the Utah Symphony who played in Thursday's concert matched the duo's playing in nuance and subtlety. It was a well-balanced performance that was filled with expression and lyricism.

The same can be said of the Mozart that followed. Once again, Laredo gave a dynamic performance that was vibrant in the outer movements and eloquent in the slow movement.

Of the five violin concertos that Mozart wrote, most of them in a brief span of creative outburst in his late teens, the Third is in many ways his best, in part because of its exquisite Adagio, but also because of the inventiveness of its melodic content. The work certainly isn't virtuosic in the way today's audiences expect a concerto to be, yet it is nevertheless difficult to play well.

Laredo and the orchestra, which contained a number of substitute players, did a marvelous job in conveying the breadth and depth of the work. The orchestra played wonderfully under Laredo's expressive, though minimal, direction. And for his part, Laredo brought a compelling lyricism to his playing.

The slow movement of the Third Concerto is one of the young Mozart's loveliest. The muted strings add a feeling of ethereal beauty to the music, over which the solo violin sways with tender grace. Laredo played this movement magnificently.

Closing the concert was Haydn's grand Symphony No. 103, the so-called "Drum Roll." Laredo did a superb job capturing the dynamic drive of the opening movement and the finale, while the third-movement minuet was light and airy. The variations that comprise the Andante were played wonderfully. And Matson, back in his accustomed position as concertmaster, played his extended solo with elegance in one of the variations.

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E-mail: ereichel@desnews.com