The Princeton University Orchestra closed its season with a towering performance of a complex and imposing work, coupled with a concerto demonstrating the depth of student talent within the music department. Friday night's performance in Richardson Auditorium (the concert was repeated Saturday night) was the 18th in the concert series dedicated to former orchestra member Stuart Mindlin. The central work on the program was Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 5, a piece which would have been a full evening in itself, but conductor Michael Pratt bravely balanced the symphony with Sergei Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2, featuring a co-winner of the 2006 Concerto Competition. Both of these works showed the orchestra at its finest, with precision and flexibility.
In Prokofiev's own words, his second violin concerto draws inspiration from a number of geographical places where the composer lived and worked in the early part of the 20th century. This concerto draws from a range of musical styles and harks back to the classical style of the late 18th century. Its concerto technique places the soloist against the orchestra in contrasting meters and playing methods, providing unique orchestration along the way.
Violin soloist Steven Chen, a sophomore at the University, clearly has a great musical future, both at the University and outside. His playing from the outset was rich and sublime, especially exploiting the deep lower tones of the instrument. Mr. Chen played the second theme of the first movement particularly lyrically, and his very quick fingers were put to use in both the first and third movements. Mr. Pratt kept the first movement restrained, with nicely subdued brass blending well into the orchestral color. Orchestra and soloist both handled the changing moods and tempi well, and the melody of the violin against a quartet of winds in the second movement was especially clean.
Mahler's Symphony No. 5 was the first symphony he completed after he met his wife-to-be, Alma, and the first in a long while not to use the human voice to convey musical concepts. It is the usual Mahler-like mammoth size, with five movements of varying moods and ideas. Like many of Mahler's works, this symphony focuses heavily on brass, and there were a number of brass solos which were exceptional. Trumpeter Brian Nowakowski opened the first movement, leading the way through the well-balanced funeral march. Mr. Pratt kept a subtle Viennese lilt in the music, aided by clean triplets from the solo trumpet and flute. The crescendo in both sections of Part I were well constructed, with a glorious end to the second section, marked "with the greatest vehemence."
Hornist Ellen Duncan was key to the "Scherzo" of the work; her clean and sensitive playing mesmerized the audience and seemed to float through the hall. Very precise percussion accompaniment was provided by Andrew Schran.
Despite all the excellent student solos, another high point of the work was a movement with no solos—the fourth movement "Adagietto." Scored only for strings and harp, this movement was played with lush richness, as the two harpists (Annabelle Bearer and Joanna ShawRuss) were able to show their mettle. The closing "Rondo" included a great many instrumental solos which were well played and well matched with the orchestral fabric.
The Stuart Mindlin Memorial Concerts have now been presented for more than 15 years. During that time scores of students have passed through the orchestra's ranks and the Mindlin children are now grown and on their own. Nonetheless, these concerts remain a staple of the Princeton musical scene and the University Orchestra's season. To the sixteen orchestra members who are graduating this year, Mahler's Symphony No. 5 will hold its own special memories of a challenging and exhilarating performance.