Applause: Canton Symphony Orchestra concert was magical
For many years, we have been season-ticket holders with the Canton Symphony Orchestra, hardly ever missing a concert. We’ve enjoyed them all, delighting in live performances of our favorite concert pieces, historic masterworks, and occasional contemporary compositions.
We felt a special aura of magic as we entered Umstattd Hall on April 2, evident in the spectacular spread of the full orchestra across the width of the stage. In the left foreground was an organ, fulfilling our expectation of this instrument’s role in the concert program.
To generous applause, Maestro Gerhardt Zimmermann appeared on stage accompanied by guest artist Heather Cooper. Both took their respective positions, Zimmermann at the podium facing the orchestra, Cooper at the organ. Richard Strauss’ rousing Festival Procession set the mood for the evening, revealing Zimmermann’s dual talent as conductor, also as orchestrator of this work, and also his vigorous arrangement of Widor’s famous “Toccata,” setting the original organ masterpiece in a rich symphonic garb.
The performance of Heather Cooper, director of music and organist at Christ Presbyterian Church in Canton, was equal − or superior − to any organ-master alive in this country, with her two hands at the keyboards and her two feet at the pedals − sounding forth in two dramatic new works by Michael Daugherty and Rick Robinson. But as a virtuosa soloist, she made the Vivaldi/Bach Concerto for Organ her very own. The concert ended with Liszt’s “Battle of the Huns,” with a liturgical organ chant swelling over the fierce final pages of the score. Cooper reappeared acknowledged her overwhelming audience reaction with a brilliant encore.
With the recent passing of William P. Blair, well-known and respected as an outspoken advocate of the arts on the local, statewide, and national levels, founder of the Ohio Citizens for the Arts, Zimmermann offered a beautiful memorial tribute in music to this beloved friend of the Canton Symphony, leading the orchestra in the “Nimrod” movement from Sir Edward Elgar’s “Enigma” Variations, followed by a moment of silence. The audience expressed its gratitude with applause loud and long, a credit to our Maestro Zimmermann and our guest artist Heather Cooper − and of course, our CSO ensemble; we ranked this concert as one of the very best CSO concerts ever.
M.J. and Pat Albacete, North Canton
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Applause: Canton Symphony Orchestra concert was magical
