By Eileen Wingard
SAN DIEGO– Two gifted teenagers shone as soloists in The Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra’s concerts January 31 at the First United Methodist Church of Chula Vista and February 2 at Tifereth Israel Synagogue.
Violinist Ilana Hirshfeld, 15, and Violist Jonathan Sussman, 18, combined their talents in a memorable rendition of Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante. Their ensemble was of professional standard, with cadenzas in the first and second movements leaving their listeners breathless at the beauty of their unity and the delicateness of their dynamics.
The first movement, with its challenging passage work and difficult unisons, was performed with flair and precision. The second movement, reflecting pathos–Mozart composed the Sinfonia Concertante shortly after losing his beloved mother—conveyed great depth of feeling. The last movement, especially at the second performance, was a spirited dance. The two young instrumentalists had a strong understanding of the work and projected it with warmth of sound and excellent intonation. Their youthful enthusiasm reflected their confidence and joy. Conductor Amos balanced the orchestra so that nowhere were the solo lines covered.
The program, dubbed, “ In Concert: Strictly Classical,” opened with a nice reading of Beethoven’s Symphony #8. With the program being somewhat shorter than usual, the orchestra sounded well-rehearsed. There was some excellent playing, particularly in the woodwinds. Even the second violins came in with confidence in their solo entrances.
The Mozart work came after intermission.
Conductor Amos and TICO is to be commended for giving such wonderful solo opportunities to young artists of our community such as Ilana Hirshfeld and Jonathan Sussman. Both soloists will be appearing again this season, Jonathan, playing Halil for Flute and Orchestra on the All-Bernstein concert Sunday, June 5, 3:00 p.m. and Tuesday, June 7, 7:30 p.m. and Ilana, playing Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso by Saint-Saens on the Summer Pops Concert Sunday, July 17, 3:00 p.m.
Jonathan, currently in his freshman year at the University of Southern California, has a double major in music and biomedical-engineering. He plays flute, violin and viola. As a first prize winner in the San Diego Symphony’s Hot Shot competition, he will be soloing on flute with the SDSO this May. He was the principal violist for The Youth Philharmonic Orchestra of Rancho Bernardo and won honorable mention on violin in the Southern California Mozart Youth Festival. At USC, Jonathan is studying flute with Jim Walker.
Ilana is a sophomore at University City High School, where she is the concertmaster of the orchestra. She has been a principal player in the San Diego Youth Symphony and was concertmaster of the San Diego Unified School District All-City Honor High School Orchestra. She won first place in the Southern California Mozart Youth Festival.
She is currently a violin student of Hernan Constantino.
The next concert of TICO will take place Sunday, April 3 at 3:00 p.m. and on Tuesday, April 5 at 7:30 p.m. It will feature the music of the great Russian composer, Sergei Rachmaninoff. Karen Follingstad will be the piano soloist in Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini. The Symphonic Dances and Vocalise will complete the program. For information, call 619-697-6001.
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Wingard is a freelance writer and a retired violinist with the San Diego Symphony. She may be contacted via eileen.wingard@sdjewishworld.com . Comments intended for publication in the space below must be accompanied by the letter writer’s first and last name and by his/ her city and state of residence (city and country for those outside the U.S.)