The malicious mood termed “Philadelphia” in David Ives’ “All in the Timing” (playing an extended run through June across the street at Sixth Avenue Bistro) they are not. They are THE Philadelphia.
After their magnificent concert May 24, three big buses lined up along 8th Avenue outside Copley Symphony Hall to take The Philadelphia Orchestra and all their accouterments to a well-deserved rest, hopefully not too far away. Under the baton of conductor Christoph Eschenbach, the extraordinary band of musicians played three back-to-back concerts in Los Angeles’ Disney Hall and Orange County’s new Segerstrom Hall. The third, in San Diego, was played under the auspices of La Jolla Music Society and closed its season.
The musicians were so many for the performance of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, Opus 64, they almost spilled off the stage at Copley; and oh, the sound they made! The strings were luscious; the conducting was efficient yet exciting; and the orchestra embodied fluidity and cohesion. The horn melody in the Andante movement was heavenly indeed, and so were all the ensuing orchestral variations. It’s thrilling to hear a conductor take such an old warhorse and make the seasoned concertgoer feel as if she is experiencing it anew.
The orchestra opened the program with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat Major for Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon and Horn, K.297b. Principal players Richard Woodhouse, Ricardo Morales, Daniel Matsukawa and Jennifer Montone, respectively, were outstanding.
A rousing standing ovation occasioned the encore, Bedrich Smetana’s “Dance of the Comedians” from his opera, “The Bartered Bride.”
The Music Society’s motto is “We bring the world to San Diego,” and next season LJMS will do the same, presenting St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic and The Philharmonia Quartett Berlin, plus many others in the disciplines of dance and jazz. Meanwhile, SummerFest, featuring its usual quotient of excellent musicians, looms happily Aug. 3 through 26.
For information and a brochure, call (858) 459-3728.