Xanadu, a word, that conjures ephemeral images of the exotic drifting in the mists of time, foreign lands, colorful people, and the intangible just beyond the ken of human imagination. Friday evening’s Toledo Symphony Classics Concert Organ, Orchestra and Xanadu lived up to this legendary sobriquet.
The program was a study in threes: three works, three musical guests, three diverse musical vocabularies. At the helm was the gifted young conductor Lio Kuokman who handled the baton with a grace and ease that matched the aesthetic of the musical landscape he sought to craft.
The guest soloist, organist Paul Jacobs, has a worldwide reputation as a musical genius. His appearance at the Peristyle stood true to form.
Finally, add University of Michigan composer Michael Daugherty and his expansive concerto Once Upon a Castle. The work is a tribute to the Hearst Castle as portrayed in the great film Citizen Kane and aptly named Xanadu.
The performance was a swirling milieu of orchestral color that left the listener just this side of paradise.
With an orchestra of epic proportions, the evening opened with American impressionist Charles Griffes’ Pleasure Dome of Kubla Khan, which could be the score to a fantasy travelogue on Shangri-La.
As dream-inspired as Coleridge’s original reverie, between Kuokman’s clear interpretation and the evocative playing of the orchestra, the constantly shifting orchestral landscape was awash with color and light.
Next, Jacobs showed breathtaking virtuosity in Daugherty’s Concerto. The interplay between orchestra and organ was electrifying, and highest praise goes to both performer and composer for a compelling and commanding musical trek. Jacobs returned in a sparkling solo encore of Bach’s Sinfonia from Cantata No. 29.
The program closed with Bartók’s masterwork Concerto for Orchestra. A musical challenge for all, the limelight travels from player to player in endless intricately woven solo lines.
The orchestra’s performance was clean, succinct, and precise. Kuokman, with his conductorial prowess, imbued the constantly morphing Bartókian pastiche with a purpose and direction, though at times, the special orchestration the composer used was at times glossed over.
Contact Wayne F. Anthony at:
classics@theblade.com.
First Published January 17, 2017, 3:18 p.m.
