UTAH SYMPHONY with conductor/soloist Jaime Laredo and pianist John Kimura Parker; Friday evening at Abravanel Hall; second performance, 8 p.m. Saturday; tickets range from $13 to $32; available through ArtTix, 355-2787.
To accommodate the vast numbers in the audience who wanted to see the Utah Symphony's pledge drive on TV (taped March 3), Friday's concert didn't begin until 8:30 p.m. In these days of VCRs, that really wasn't necessary. But the powers that be at the Utah Symphony apparently wanted to get as much mileage out of the show as possible. And after all, hype is the name of the game these days.Be that as it may, however, Friday's live audience was treated to a musical tour de force by guest conductor/violinist Jaime Laredo and pianist Jon Kimura Parker.
There was, unfortunately, a low point in the concert, too, but it didn't detract from the overall magnificence of this performance.
The concert opened with an exciting interpretation of Bach's Violin Concerto in A minor. Laredo was both conductor and soloist here. The two lively outer movements were played with verve and flair, while the tender middle movement was played with great sensitivity by both orchestra and soloist. In fact, this slow movement almost sounded romantic in Laredo's hands.
The string orchestra that accompanied Laredo was too large by Baroque standards -- half the number of musicians would have been closer to the ideal. However, in spite of this, the orchestra played the work crisply, precisely and with fine attention to the details of dynamics and phrasing.
The Bach was followed by a dull and uninspired piece by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Prologue and Variations for String Orchestra, from 1983. The work revels in mediocrity and borrows heavily from other composers. Bernard Herrmann's influence is especially noticeable. This piece has absolutely no merit and should be hidden away in grandma's attic.
Seldom has the Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No. 1 sounded better than it did Friday in Parker's interpretation. Bravura and virtuosic pyrotechnics were on display, and Parker was simply brilliant. The audience went wild at the end of the performance, and Parker came back on stage and played a brief encore, a jazz improvisation on "Running Wild" by Art Davis.
The concert concluded with a performance of Mozart's Symphony No. 40 that was of the highest caliber. Laredo emphasized the drama of the outer movements and brought out the refined beauty of the captivating slow movement. This is the way Mozart ought to be played.