Thursday, January 16, 2024
Southam Hall, National Arts Centre, Ottawa
Of the Richard Strauss bookends, Till Eulenspiegel was given a poised, affectionate, smartly detailed and very well played outing that indicated that the NAC Orchestra is on a high with its current music director, Alexander Shelley; similarly at the concert’s end, music from Der Rosenkavalier, performed with panache (excellent horns), sensitivity (fine violin solo) and with rapture (the ‘Trio’). In response to Till, John Estacio has composed a piece that is quietly reflective, with stronger emotions emerging. yet always poignant; and Alexina Louie runs passages of Rosenkavalier through her glinting Strauss-related score. However, despite well-managed premieres neither work seems destined for posterity. As centrepiece, the Second Violin Concerto by Florence Price, whose musical quality has been outstripped by the regular programming of her works. That said, VC2, lyrical and folksy, is a little more individual and adventurous than some of her other catalogue entries, pleasingly communicative, too, and certainly brilliantly played by Randall Goosby, with rich tone and generous phrasing, sympathetically accompanied, followed by Louisiana Blues Strut, Goosby’s encore, as uninhibited as the title suggests.
Strauss Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Op. 28
John Estacio Avé*
Florence Price Violin Concerto No. 2 (In One Movement)
Alexina Louie Mon Seul Désir: Hommage À Strauss (My Only Desire: Hommage To Strauss)*
Strauss Suite From Der Rosenkavalier
*NAC Orchestra Commission, World Premiere