In Monday’s (4/16) Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri), Sarah Bryan Miller writes, “This weekend’s program by music director David Robertson and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra was, in a sense, reversed from the norm: The longest piece filled the first half, the concerto began the second, and what would normally be a short curtain-raiser concluded the concert. That was probably to allow the concert to end with the bang—or blast—of Sergei Prokofiev’s bombastic ‘Scythian Suite.’ It began on a gentler note, however, with the recognition of the Educator of the Year, Amy Freet of Airport Elementary School in the Ferguson-Florissant School District. Freet’s classes’ participation in the SLSO’s Adopt-a-School program was featured in the Post-Dispatch in December. She received the award onstage from Robertson, who said, ‘For Amy Freet and her students, music is the gateway to life.’ … Serge Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances has everything from delicate textures to the ultimate set of variations on the apocalyptic theme ‘Dies irae.’ … Robertson did a fine job of exploring the concerto’s themes, bringing out its Slavic sensibility; the first (and well-deserved) solo bow went to guest alto sax Nathan Nabb.” Also on the program were Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand with Leon Fleisher, and Prokofiev’s Scythian Suite.
Posted April 17, 2012
