Wilson, Spano Dazzle CSO Audience

(first published in The Cincinnati Post March 30, 2001)

Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 is a carousel ride, a visit to the funhouse and a gob of cotton candy, all rolled into one.

Pianist Terrence Wilson, 25, left none of that out in his performance with the Cincinnati Symphony Thursday night at Music Hall, which swept the crowd to its feet at its head-banging conclusion.

Joining Wilson in the well-deserved applause was guest conductor Robert Spano in his overdue CSO debut. An Ohio native, Spano is music director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic and music director designate of the Atlanta Symphony. Spano led a performance of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 that also won a standing ovation.

Wilson twisted the kaleidoscope deftly in the Prokofiev. He eased into the opening Allegro, sailing softly over the keys before announcing himself boldly and incisively. The second movement had lots of personality, from dreamy to savage. Everyone got into the act in the finale, with its quirky little ''flares'' in piano and winds and big romantic sweep. Momentum was relentless as it moved into the swirling final bars.

Spano, an Oberlin Conservatory graduate whose innovative programming in Brooklyn has won him wide acclaim, sought the drama in Tchaikovsky's Fourth. The horns were less than solid at the outset, but this was made up for by the satiny sheen and graceful forward motion of the strings.

The movement had the feel of a saga as it unfolded toward its tragic end. The slow movement, which boasts one of the composer's most affecting melodies, was proudly lyrical, while the strings became one big harp in the pizzicato movement.

Spano signed off with a bang in the finale, which featured hefty brasses and muscular sawing by the strings.

Repeats are 8 tonight and Saturday at Music Hall.