Copland, Dvorak Performed on Grand Scale

(first published in The Cincinnati Post April 4, 1992)

Aaron Copland's Third Symphony was born in Cincinnati. Well, part of it, anyway. The "Fanfare for the Common Man," which opens the finale, was premiered in 1942 by Eugene Goossens and the Cincinnati Symphony, two years before the symphony was begun.

Copland's "great American symphony," a big, brash score full of old- fashioned optimism, was the featured work in Friday night's CSO concert. On the podium was CSO assistant conductor Keith Lockhart, out of his "Casual Classics" sneakers and into tails for his CSO Music Hall debut.

It was an out-sized event in many ways. Attendance, 2,303,

was among the highest for a Friday night concert this season, with members of Enjoy the Arts/START on hand for a gala evening, plus a delegation of high school students from Northern Kentucky.

Guest artist in Dvorak's Piano Concerto in G Minor was Garrick Ohlsson performing on a 9-foot, 6-inch Boesendorfer piano. (Ohlsson himself tops 6- foot-4.)

The Austrian-made Boesendorfer, by the way, is the world's largest, most expensive piano, with 97 keys made of ivory. Most concert grands have 88 and use plastic.

All the better to play Dvorak with, for the instrument has a fabulous, ringing tone, which Ohlsson drew out with powerful clarity. The concerto is not one of the standards. In fact, it has been performed by the CSO at Music Hall only twice before. Ohlsson gave it a persuasive reading, one with nobility as well as youthful passion. (Dvorak wrote it relatively early in his career.)

The lengthy first movement was enlivened with a vigorous cadenza, while the second had an aura of sustained beauty. Some of the loveliest moments came in the finale, with its swatches of Czech color. Lockhart's accompaniment seemed rather tentative at first, but caught the spirit of the work as it went along.

Scored for large orchestra, the Copland symphony gave the CSO a chance to shine, although the volume seemed stuck on high at times. The Scherzo was fittingly boisterous. The slow movement allowed for some quiet reflection although violin intonation was fuzzy in the high register. The familiar fanfare, heard quietly in the winds at the beginning of finale, built to a brassy climax before the work concluded with a festive display of orchestral color.

Concert review - CINCINNATI SYMPHONY. Friday night, Music Hall. Keith Lockhart, conductor. Garrick Ohlsson, piano. PROGRAM: Brahms, "Academic Festival Overture." Dvorak, Piano Concerto in G Minor. Copland, Symphony No. 3. Attendance: 2,303. Repeat: Tonight, 8:30, Music Hall (381-3300).