by John W. Lambert
December 13, 2009, Chapel Hill, NC: Duke-based
pianist Elizabeth
Tomlin was
trained, in part, at UNC, so it was something of a homecoming for her
to play Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto in Hill Hall, accompanied
by the Chapel
Hill Philharmonia.
She’s a wonderful artist, and she made a very strong case for
this potentially problematic work, one in which the soloist has so
many heartwarming turns if only the orchestra can avoid engulfing the
guest. Happily, that was the case on this occasion – conductor
Donald L. Oehler seemed to take just the right approach with his substantial
orchestra, urging them to lay low during the soloist’s prime
bits. The CHP did so, admirably, resulting in one of the more felicitous
performances of this tried-and-true concerto heard here in many moons.
Only the horns seemed to miss the mark, and then only occasionally.
It was so good, indeed, that I’d urge anyone to go out of the
way to hear Tomlin again. And indeed, it was good on the orchestra’s
part, too – this was surely among its best performances to date.
Alas, things did not get underway so promisingly. Mozart’s Symphony
No. 25 began heavily and with less than complete unanimity, and although
things improved in the second and following movements, it never really
took fire, partly because the orchestra – of roughly 85 players – was
just too large for Mozart, and never mind that the hall is too lively
for such large ensembles unless they are under positive control at
all times.
The second number on the first half was the famous sequence of dances
from Borodin’s opera Prince Igor. The Polovtsian
Dances may be among the best-known ballets in captivity, thanks
to the fact that so many of its tunes were mined for the early ‘50s
Broadway show Kismet (as concertmaster Mark Furth’s
illustrated program notes reminded us). These colorful pieces sounded
fine, for the most part, aside from some overly rambunctious piccolo
licks. The crowd was as enthusiastic as the musicians.
At the beginning of the second half there was a touching tribute and
presentation to French horn player and longtime CHP officer Jerry Hulka.
Garth Molyneux composed a fanfare for four horns that was played in
his honor, and CHP President Dick Clark spoke warmly of the honoree’s
distinguished service, noting that his professional career was in medicine
but that his passion was music.
At the start of the concert, too, there’d been remarks by Oehler,
on the occasion of the April 21 death of longtime violinist and founding
member Donald S. Schier. He was a distinguished specialist and teacher
of Romance languages who had come to Chapel Hill because of musical
friends here. The concert was played in his memory.
The Maestro will be on sabbatical in the spring semester, so the CHP’s
concerts will be led by others. On February 14, Evan Feldman will conduct,
and pianist Alice Tien will be the soloist. On May 2, Yoram Youngerman
will conduct, and the soloist will be the winner of the orchestra’s
2010 Young Artist Concerto Competition. We’ll list these events
in our calendar in due course.
