“The keynote work on the Princeton Symphony Orchestra’s Sunday program was Felix Mendelssohn’s Reformation Symphony [commemorating] the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s presentation of his world-shattering 95 Theses, but all three works presented by the orchestra looked back to previous eras,” writes Nancy Plum in Wednesday’s (11/1) Town Topics (Princeton, NJ). Music Director Rossen Milanov “has maintained a strong commitment to rarely performed 20th-century music during his tenure with the Princeton Symphony…. For [Czech composer Erwin Schulhoff’s 1930 Concerto for String Quartet and Winds], the Princeton Symphony was joined by the Lark Quartet, whose second violinist is the symphony’s concertmaster—Basia Danilow. … the Quartet played with uniform intensity and solid communication among the players…. Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 5 in D Major, known as the Reformation Symphony [pays] tribute to the Reformation in its incorporation of Martin Luther’s chorale ‘Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott.’ … A flute soliloquy played by [principal flute Yevgeny] Faniuk led the Princeton Symphony well into a majestic fourth movement featuring Luther’s chorale. Milanov particularly drew out the dignity and stateliness of this tune as Mendelssohn’s symphony drew to a close.” Also on the program was Respighi’s Gli uccelli.
Posted November 3, 2017
