RALEIGH -- Friday's N.C. Symphony concert was one of those nights you dream about, with performances that grab you up, shake you around and leave you in a daze afterward. Music director Grant Llewellyn and the orchestra were white-hot, aided by a world-class soloist, in an evening unquestionably demonstrating the cathartic power of music.
The concert began pleasantly enough with Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 4, a sedately formal work whose most striking features are martial trumpets and drums, balanced by lovely burbling from oboes and bassoon. Llewellyn's gently subdued approach gave no hint of the coming firestorms.
First was Shostakovich's 1959 Cello Concerto No. 1, an extremely personal work reflecting the composer's despair over Soviet control of Russia and profound sorrow for his countrymen. In the first movement, the cello intently maintains a buzzing theme, undaunted by various outbursts and blasts from the orchestra. In the second, the cello expresses a sad, downtrodden melody, leading to an introspective six-minute cadenza in which the solo cello first wallows in self-pity, then gathers up resolve to defiantly rage against the militaristic posturing of the orchestra.
The concerto is notoriously difficult, but veteran cellist Lynn Harrell took it in stride, confidently conquering all its challenges. Harrell's body language and facial expressions reflected the deeply felt emotions communicated in his playing, the intensity almost overwhelming. He displayed an extremely wide dynamic range and, in the cadenza, a technical wizardry that made the cello sound like several instruments playing at once.
Llewellyn matched Harrell's focus, upholding the nervous energy of the first movement, the edgy melancholy of the second, and the demonic frenzy of the last. Despite the raw, often ugly moments, Friday's audience sat in awed silence through it all, and then heartily cheered at the work's conclusion.
It would have been understandable if the next performance of Brahms' Symphony No. 4 had been something of a letdown after such a draining workout. But Llewellyn signaled he was on a roll in the opening pages of the first movement. This was not to be a relaxed, autumnal view but a grandly majestic vision, filled with bold waves of sound, surging along on an ever-forward path. The second movement had rich mellowness, the third thrilling surge, the fourth compelling gravity - an inspired, totally involving transversal.
Llewellyn made lightning strike twice in an evening that should be marked as a high point in his N.C. Symphony career.
