VIVALDI BY CANDLELIGHT, Monday, Dec. 4, St. Mark's Cathedral (231 E. 100 South). Second performance Tuesday, Dec. 5, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $40, which includes admission to a post-concert reception, and are available by calling 532-4747.

It's always a delight hearing members of the Utah Symphony spotlighted as soloists, since you don't really get a chance to fully appreciate the extent of their considerable talents when they play as part of the symphony.

One outlet is the annual Vivaldi by Candlelight concerts. Music director Barbara Scowcroft — herself a violinist in the orchestra — always manages to bring together an outstanding string ensemble as well as featuring some of her colleagues in solo roles.

This year, Utah Symphony concertmaster Ralph Matson, principal oboe Robert Stephenson and keyboardist Marjorie Janove were highlighted in two works by Bach. (As in past years, Scowcroft programs a wide variety of baroque composers, not just Vivaldi, at these concerts.)

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Janove performed the Concerto for Harpsichord No. 1 in D minor. One of the earliest concertos to present the harpsichord as a solo instrument, the D minor Concerto is one of Bach's finest works in this form. And Janove gave a superb performance. Her interpretation was energetic and ruthless in its drive and verve. Scowcroft offered a nuanced and well-balanced accompaniment that never overpowered the soloist.

Stephenson and Matson played Bach's Concerto for Oboe and Violin in C minor. The two soloists were magnificent. They gave a strong performance that was invigorating, exciting and decisive. The "Adagio" movement was especially well-executed. Both soloists brought out the gentle, expressive mood of the music perfectly.

Also on the program were three concertos for orchestra by Vivaldi — in C major, A major and the "Concerto Madrigalesco," a work written in the old-fashioned four-movement style of Corelli. But all three are lighthearted, innocuous and full of character. And in Scowcroft's hands they were performed with spirit and good-natured abandon.


E-mail: ereichel@desnews.com

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