BYU Philharmonic is outstanding

BYU PHILHARMONIC, JENNIFER WELCH-BABIDGE, de Jong Concert Hall, Brigham Young University, Saturday

This past week, Brigham Young University was host to the College Orchestra Directors Association's national convention. The three-day event culminated in a concert Saturday night by the BYU Philharmonic under the direction of Kory Katseanes.

Featured on the program was the premiere of "Bach 358" by Libby Larsen. The work was commissioned by BYU's Barlow Endowment for Music Composition.

The work is an homage to J.S. Bach, and Larsen quotes Bach freely, with snippets of the Bach theme reappearing throughout as a unifying element.

"Bach 358" is a rather theatrical piece, idiomatic for Larsen's orchestral music. It's dramatic and effusive but quite conventional in its gestures. The orchestration is colorful, though, and the piece is a fine showcase for the orchestra and spotlights the different sections well. Katseanes coaxed an articulate reading of the piece, and the orchestra played it with dynamic vitality.

Also on the first half of the concert was Gustav Holst's suite from his opera "The Perfect Fool." Holst was one of the significant English composers in the first third of the 20th century, but except for "The Planets" and a few smaller pieces, his music is largely, and unfairly, ignored today.

The suite is made up of the ballet music that opens the opera. It starts with the dynamic outburst of the "Ballet of the Spirits of Earth," then moves to the gentle and lushly romantic "Dance of the Spirits of Water" and ends with the dramatic maelstrom of the "Dance of the Spirits of Fire."

Katseanes captured the atmosphere of each piece wonderfully. His reading was nuanced, colorful and vibrant. The orchestra played splendidly. There was a professional sheen to their performance that was impressive. The playing was very polished, and the numerous solos in the piece, particularly those by the English horn, the principal viola, the principal cello and the trombones, were beautifully played and wonderfully executed.

The orchestra put its collective talent and virtuosity on display in the final work, Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 4. Mahler demands a lot from the musicians, and the BYU Philharmonic delivered a dynamic and compelling performance. Katseanes got his young players to show their mettle, and they acquitted themselves superbly. They played with passion and emotional intensity.

Soprano Jennifer Welch-Babidge joined the orchestra for the final movement. The Met regular, who is now a member of the BYU faculty, sang "Das Himmlische Leben" ("The Heavenly Life") gorgeously. Her consistently warm, rich voice brought an effusive eloquence and vibrant expressiveness to her part.

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