2 men and a woman on stage taking a bow

Maestro Carlos Miguel Prieto, composer Errollyn Wallen, and violinist Philippe Quint on stage at Meymandi Concert Hall

RALEIGH, NC – The North Carolina Symphony‘s 92nd season has already proven to be something any orchestra or community could be proud of. The concert on this Friday evening was exceptional, featuring not one, but two premieres! NCS performed a co-commission work of British composer Errollyn Wallen‘s Violin Concerto with guest violinist Philippe Quint, and Lora Kvint’s Odyssey Rhapsody for Violin and Orchestra, all confidently conjured under the steady and adventurous baton of Maestro Carlos Miguel Prieto.

To a large house of several generations of concertgoers (notably many young enthusiasts!), NCS began the evening with Johannes Brahms’ Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Op. 56a. This well-known and beloved work was rendered with a beautifully clean balance. This is the kind of music NCS does so well, with the nuanced ensemble bending immediately to any requests from Prieto regarding tempi and dynamics at a note’s notice. The entire work grew gloriously to its thoroughly majestic ending. Simply put – perfection.

Belizean-born British composer Errollyn Wallen (b. 1958) has a massive oeuvre that spans from 22 operas to many chamber and orchestral works, choral and solo vocal works, as well as dance and film music. As of August, she has been tasked with the role of Master of the King’s Music for King Charles III. However, it was what she brought to Meymandi Concert Hall this evening that was met with profound appreciation by the audience and opened this writer’s ears to never-before-imagined sonorities – something completely new!

NCS is part of a consortium of orchestras that co-commissioned Wallen’s Violin Concerto along with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Brevard Festival Orchestra, and the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra. Wallen wrote the work specifically for violin virtuoso Philippe Quint. Together, they have collaboratively built one of the most interesting and foundational pieces in the canon, a work that must be heard. If you have the chance to hear it live, all the better. If not, the RSNO will release a recording with Quint available in early spring of 2025 on the Pentatone label – Andrew Litton conducting.

In my interview with Wallen earlier in the day, she described the new concerto as very different from her previous compositions, bringing together musical aspects reflected in Quint’s life. She noted that the sonorities and broad emotional scope that she was afforded to bring to the work when collaborating with such a talent like Quint were an incredible privilege for her. She also mentioned that the piece had been influenced by the new space in which she wrote it – a lighthouse on the remote Scottish Isle of Orkney.

Each orchestra involved in this commission brings something new to the work. Wallen was both fascinated and thrilled with the nuances of Prieto’s shared roots in the music of Latin America, which suddenly brought to life references to her Belizean heritage. Her hope for the audience this evening was to come away with love, not just for the showcase but for the world and each individual’s journey through it with an open heart.

man in black playing violin

Violinist Philippe Quint

Let me get this out of the way – Philippe Quint (b. 1974) is a beast of a player. With the sensibilities, warmth of tone, and soulfulness like that of Perlman or Zukerman, Quint’s outrageous technicality is beyond what one could conceive as reasonable for the violin, executed with absolute masterful perfection. He came on stage in relaxed clothing and with an equally relaxed personality, smiling through passages that seemed to bring him close to the edge of the something not humanly possible, riffing with the concertmaster – completely fluid and in the zone.

The first movement of Wallen’s concerto begins with what seemed to this ear an otherworldly sound from a distant horizon. The orchestra intensely listened to one another in a way that doesn’t always happen in traditional orchestral music, rendering the audience awestruck from the very first passages. Wallen incorporates tubular bells into this movement, recalling the church bells Quint remembered from his early childhood growing up in St. Petersburg, Russia.

There were long stretches in Quint’s playing that seemed totally improvisatory, like the mad, transcendent chops of Charlie Parker or Ornette Coleman – except 21st century post-classical music.

The second movement was equally as well-formed, moving from purely magical sonorities to deeply passionate moments, such as the sudden section with only harp and violin playing a simple but profoundly moving lullaby that Quint’s grandfather used to sing to him as a child. The ending of the movement was both dissonant and beautiful, with the violin hovering on stratospheric extended high tones.

The final movement stretches all the bounds of what this writer thought a violin could do. Jaw-dropping. Wallen’s Caribbean and Spanish influences seeped through, with lots of rhythmic plucking from the strings and the soloist. I’d venture to say that most of the audience was holding on to the edge of their seats when the piece ended. Wallen, who was sitting beside me, turned and said of Quint, “He played like a demon!” Indeed, while this piece will be played by other violinists, I can hardly imagine how, but I look forward to hearing it! Bravissimo to all!

man in black conducting orchestra

Maestro Carlos Miguel Prieto conducting the North Carolina Symphony

Equally as rigorous was Quint’s encore. Odyssey Rhapsody for Violin and Orchestra, written by his mother, well-known Russian composer Lora Kvint (b. 1953), was a North Carolina Symphony world premiere. With seven, yes seven, percussionists against one Odysseus (Quint), there were challenges in balance, but what a ride! You don’t need to have read The Odyssey to hear the wild, adventurous saga of the hero in this work – full of enchantment – magical, colorful, and totally enjoyable.

man in black conducting

Carlos Miguel Prieto, Music Director of the North Carolina Symphony

After intermission, NCS cleansed the palate with a Romantic work by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius – his Symphony No. 2 in D, Op. 43. While not as dark and Slavic as his first symphony, there are, without a doubt, nationalistic tendencies in No. 2 despite being written in a bucolic Italian mountain villa. Again, how lucky we are to have an orchestra and an artistic director with such breadth. Prieto and the NCS handled this 45-minute work with sensitivity and mastery. While there were slips in intonation within the woodwinds and brass, the overall effect of the piece was gratifying. Certainly, the orchestra and Prieto got a serious workout with this program.

This performance will repeat this evening with a pre-concert conversation with composer Wallen and Maestro Prieto. Quail Ridge Books is also selling Wallen’s new book, Becoming a Composer, in the lobby of Meymandi where the Maestra herself is signing copies. See our calendar for details.