Symphony puts on wonderful Vivaldi program

VIVALDI BY CANDLELIGHT, First Presbyterian Church, Dec. 12

For this year's Vivaldi by Candlelight concert, music director and conductor Gerald Elias decided to focus on concertos. There is no dearth of works in this genre from the Baroque era since instrumental music centered firmly around the concerto. And Elias, who is also the associate concertmaster of the Utah Symphony, put together a wonderful program of works by Antonio Vivaldi and two of his contemporaries.

Vivaldi was the master of the form, having written some 400 concertos. With so many works, it can be difficult to narrow the selection down, but Elias did a fine job in choosing, and the two on Saturday's program are among the best by this prolific composer.

The evening opened with Vivaldi's Concerto in G minor for Two Violins, op. 3, no. 2. Dark-hued and one of his more earnest works, the concerto received a polished and lyrical performance by soloists David Porter and Lynnette Stewart. And Elias' thoughtful direction captured the nuances of dynamics and expression wonderfully.

The other Vivaldi concerto was "Autumn" from "The Four Seasons," with Porter once again doing duty as soloist. He and the ensemble — assembled from members of the Utah Symphony, University of Utah faculty and other area musicians — gave a beautifully crafted and expressive account that captured the vibrancy of the outer movements and the quiet flow of the middle movement.

It's not too often that one hears a work by Tomaso Albinoni that's not his ubiquitous Adagio. But the audience at Saturday's concert had just that opportunity. Utah Symphony violist Scott Lewis soloed in Albinoni's gorgeously lyrical Concerto in D minor, op. 9, no. 2, originally for oboe but played in Lewis' own transcription for viola. And Lewis played it with warm eloquence that was matched by the ensemble.

The remainder of the 90-minute concert consisted of two works by J.S. Bach: the Concerto in A major for Harpsichord, BWV 1052, and the Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G major.

Kimi Kawashima was the soloist in the A major Concerto and she played with fluid grace, and Elias was careful to maintain a fine balance in sound between the harpsichord and the ensemble.

Guest flutists Sergio Pallotelli and Cesar Vivanco joined Elias, who took on the solo violin part, for the Brandenburg Concerto, which ended the concert. The three played with wonderful expressiveness, as did the ensemble. They captured the vibrancy and vitality of the opening Allegro and closing Presto movements, and the sheer lyricism of the middle Andante was breathtaking.

e-mail: ereichel@desnews.com