Review: EPO's 'Musician Showcase' shines light on range of talent

What does it take to make a symphony orchestra? There must be a critical mass of highly trained professional musicians, a conductor of wide-ranging musical interest and exceptional ability, and a public that readily supports this most traditional and rarefied institution of cultural expression.

Happily, these ingredients coalesce in Evansville, and the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra’s fine "Musician Showcase" on Sunday afternoon gave evidence of the felicitous coming together of all those forces.

The first half of the performance featured orchestra members as soloists, all of whom displayed great talent, the benefits of concert experience and years of hard work.

The program offered a tantalizing variety of music, opening with a reflective work by 20th Century composer Aaron Copland, “Quiet City.”  Bonnie Farr’s English horn provided a lovely mellow balance to Micah Reinharz’s bright declamatory trumpet sound in that work.  The next composition took the audience back to the 18th Century: Emily Cook performed the serene Adagio movement of Mozart’s clarinet concerto.

That may have been the only time that this listener got to hear Mozart’s work on the instrument for which it was intended, a basset horn, with its additional low, rich notes.  Cook’s reading of that famous gem-like slow movement seemed just right.  Then on to the 19th Century and the brilliant “Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso” of Camille Saint-Saëns. Violinist Michael Chu played with such apparent ease and necessary bravura that the composition seemed to have been written for him.

The fifth symphony of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius occupied the second half of the concert. All sections of the orchestra were involved in the stirring performance of this monumental work, one that has become a touchstone of the Finnish national spirit.

Drawing on Sibelius’ love of the natural world, the symphony creates myriad musical landscapes and makes great, muscular use of brass instruments and horns, particularly in the third and final movement.

The work also makes especial demands upon the conductor, who must keep the first movement from speeding while applying the musical brakes in the final movement as it approaches its concluding clanging cadence.

Much like the highlighting of individual talents in the first half, the second half showcased the skills of the entire ensemble and its excellent director Roger Kalia.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Review: EPO's 'Musician Showcase' shines light on range of talent