• By Nancy Plum

They say that music warms the soul. If that is the case, Princeton Symphony Orchestra had its work cut out this past weekend presenting two concerts while outside temperatures crept into the below zero range. Fortunately, Princeton music lovers were hungry for a soul-warming experience after days of bitterly cold weather and turned out to hear the Orchestra, and especially a guest pianist who could turn any piece of music into a towering inferno. Conducted by Kenneth T. Bean, the Orchestra’s performances of Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A Minor and Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2 in D Major successfully (at least temporarily) replaced the winter blues with a thrilling musical experience.

Princeton Symphony Orchestra began Saturday night’s program at Richardson Auditorium (which was repeated Sunday afternoon) with a short piece by one of this country’s most acclaimed contemporary composers. Jessie Montgomery, currently a doctoral candidate in composition at Princeton University, composed Records from a Vanishing City recalling the diverse cultures and styles of music she heard while growing up on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Her work began with snippets of sound from all corners of the ensemble, as if someone were spinning the dial of a radio. The Orchestra well executed the inventive orchestration, featuring solo lines from clarinetist Pascal Archer and bassoonist Brad Balliett, while a pair of horns added depth to the texture. The scoring of solo bassoon with flute, played by Sooyun Kim, created a unique sound, while Jerry Bryant provided a muted trumpet line as if from afar.

Grieg’s rich and symphonic Piano Concerto begins with one of the most recognizable openings in orchestral literature. In Princeton Symphony Orchestra’s interpretation, timpanist Jeremy Levine effectively set up guest soloist Michelle Cann’s dramatically cascading chord outline. Cann played the opening measures decisively, launching a performance that was clearly taking no prisoners from the keyboard. A cautious and fearful pianist she is not; Cann wrings everything possible from the instrument — and then demands more. She created a great deal of suspense, especially in the first movement cadenza and subsequent coda. Cann told a powerful story in the cadenza, taking her time with lyrical passages and attacking the technical difficulties with zeal and passion.

The second movement opened with expressive strings and a tranquil horn solo from Jonathan Clark. Tumbling scales from Cann’s solo piano resembled icicles, a fitting image for a town encased in a seemingly never-ending frozen landscape. Nonstop keyboard playing marked the third movement, along with Grieg’s incorporating of the Norwegian “halling” folk dance. Under Bean’s leadership, Cann and the Orchestra well captured the acrobatic energy of the dance, while Cann showed that even amid a furious piano part, she could still taper phrases and find delicacy. Cann further demonstrated her one-of-a-kind style with a solo encore of early 20th-century composer Hazel Scott’s arrangement of Franz Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C# Minor. Scott, just now receiving well-deserved acclaim as one of piano’s great virtuosi, took classical works and reinterpreted them with stride piano, boogie-woogie rhythms and complex jazz, in this case outdoing Liszt in incredulous technical requirements. Cann mesmerized the audience with Scott’s work, showing herself to be a true champion of this under-represented composer, if not channeling Scott directly.

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2 dated from 1802, as the composer was desperate to salvage what he could of his hearing. The ensuing years were full of despair for Beethoven, but this four-movement work was energetic and cheerful. In Saturday’s performance, the Symphony opened with a calm “Adagio,” gracefully leading to a lively “Allegro” in the bright key of D major. Accents were well brought out by the instrumentalists, and conductor Bean consistently looked for a broad and joyous sound. The second movement “Larghetto,” a throwback to the refinement of Mozart, featured especially elegant horns within a relaxed tempo. Throughout the work, Bean and the Princeton Symphony Orchestra confidently emphasized the contrast between the forceful and the lyrical, closing the evening with an affirmative declaration of optimism.

Princeton Symphony Orchestra will present its next Classical series concerts on Saturday, March 7 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, March 8 at 4 p.m. at Richardson Auditorium. Conducted by Rossen Milanov, these performances will include music of Viet Cuong, Julian Grant, and Igor Stravinsky. Ticket information can be obtained by visiting princetonsymphony.org.