By Eileen Wingard
SAN DIEGO — David Amos and the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra (TICO) tackled a difficult program when they chose to play an All-Rachmaninoff concert. The post-Romantic music produced by the great Russian composer is complex and challenging. Still, with an excellent piano soloist, SDSU’s piano faculty head, Karen Follingstad, extra coaching of the winds by clarinetist Robert Zelickman, and highly motivated musicians, TICO managed to pull it off.
Most astonishing was how well they played the three Symphonic Dances, Op. 45, which opened the program. The San Diego Symphony had just performed that work the weekend before at one of their Jacobs Masterworks Series, so I had that performance fresh in my memory.
While the SDSO took certain tempi faster and, of course, with twice as many violins, and achieved a robust string sound, TICO, working with its smaller, dedicated string section, did a commendable job. The woodwinds and brass sections acquitted themselves well, and the percussion section was notable for its precision.
The transparent Vocalise followed the intermission, and the program concluded with Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini. Rachmaninoff is not the only composer who has utilized this sunny theme; so did Brahms before him, as well as others. But Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody seems to be the favorite of pianists and audiences alike.
Follingstad stated the theme with sparkling accuracy and performed the variations, including the one with the theme stated in reverse, with excellent technique and expressiveness. With every variation in a different mood and various tempo changes, the orchestra score demanded a great deal of the accompanying musicians. Under Amos’s guidance, they managed to keep up with their brilliant soloist.
TICO’s next program, on Sunday, June 5, at 3:00 p.m. and Tuesday, June 7, at 7:30 p.m. is even more ambitious: the music of Leonard Bernstein. It will include two soloists, violinist Ondrej Lewitt playing the Serenade for Violin and Orchestra, and flutist Jonathan Sussman performing Halil for Flute and Orchestra. Also programmed are the Symphonic Dances from “West Side Story”and the Overture to Candide.
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Wingard is a retired violinist with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra and a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts. She may be contacted via eileen.wingard@sdjewishworld.com. Comments intended for publication in the space below should be accompanied by the letter writer’s first and last name and by his or her city and state of residence (city and country for those outside the U.S.)