Adkins’ freshly spun Vivaldi sparks Utah Symphony’s “Seasons” program
The Utah Symphony has two large works on the program this week celebrating the seasons: Glazunov’s 1899 ballet score and Vivaldi’s endearing set of four violin concertos.
The concerts this weekend mark the first time that Glazunov’s The Seasons has been performed in its entirety. And the Utah Symphony’s recently appointed assistant conductor, Jessica Rivero Altarriba, gave a fine account Friday night at Abravanel Hall.
Altarriba captured the romantic spirit and underscored the rhythmic energy of the music with her well-defined and articulate direction. She coaxed expressive playing from the orchestra that emphasized a lush string sound, and she brought cohesiveness to the work.
Glazunov’s score is filled with lighthearted melodies throughout, and the Cuban-born conductor underscored the playful nature of the melodies with her nuanced direction. Altarriba’s light approach to the music was clearly present in the ballet’s two most famous and well known movements, the waltz from “Summer” and the “Bacchanale” from “Autumn.” She imbued the former with a delightful lilt, while bringing a robust heartiness to the latter.
Also worth mentioning was the fine solo playing by flutist Mercedes Smith, clarinetist Tad Calcara and oboist Zachary Hammond.
The concert opened with the Utah Symphony premiere of Angel Lam’s Please let there be a paradise…. The work is the product of a multi-orchestra commission, with the Utah Symphony one of the commissioning orchestras.
The brief, nine-minute piece starts out magically with creative writing for the percussion, which also includes a number of crystal singing bowls. Starting out with a simple theme, which is continually repeated, it gradually incorporates the full orchestra with a well-crafted crescendo. The work then evolves into a tonal essay with rich harmonies and luxuriant string writing before finally ending quietly with the percussion giving hints of the opening motive.
Altarriba gave a well-conceived reading of the piece that captured the contemplative atmosphere of the opening and the more romantic urgency in the main body of the score.
The second half of the program features Vivaldi’s venerable The Four Seasons, with concertmaster Madeline Adkins soloing as well as leading the appropriately downsized string ensemble. The music was also accompanied by lines from the sonnets that Vivaldi wrote for each concerto that were projected on a screen on the back wall.
Adkins’ choice of tempos were well thought out and tended to be on the livelier side, even in the slow movements. Nothing felt rushed and the music flowed effortlessly and seamlessly.
Adkins, who has been a featured soloist several times since joining the orchestra in 2016, displayed fine technique and remarkable musicality in each concerto. The rapid-fire passages in the outer movements of each work were clearly defined and articulated in her hands, while the more melodic passages were played with clarity and, at times, effusive expressiveness.
Under Adkins direction, the performance was also defined by a wonderful partnership between the soloist and the strings. Notable was the interplay at one point between violist Brant Bayless and Adkins and also between cellist Matthew Johnson and Adkins. Overall, it was an immensely enjoyable and refreshing reading of this inescapable work.
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The Utah Symphony announced this week that Delyana Lazarova will be the orchestra’s new principal guest conductor. She will begin her two-year appointment at the start of the 2025-26 season.
Lazarova made her debut with the Utah Symphony in May, when she led a highly acclaimed concert featuring music of Ravel, Rimsky-Korsakov and Dobrinka Tabakova.
The program will be repeated 7:30 p.m. Saturday. utahsymphony.org
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