The Orlando Philharmonic, Music Director Eric Jacobsen, and violinist Simone Porter performed at Exploria Stadium on September 26, 2020. Photo by Alex Sturgill
“It was right about the time that the maestro jogged by, accompanied by a fist-pumping lion [mascot], that I realized this wasn’t going to be a normal season opener for the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra,” writes Matthew J. Palm in Sunday’s (9/27) Orlando Sentinel (FL). “Concertgoers [were] eating popcorn from a box and drinking Heineken straight from the can…. The Orlando Philharmonic took the pitch at Exploria Stadium, home to Orlando’s Major League Soccer teams, on Saturday for an open-air concert…. ‘I can confidently say I’ve never felt these vivid emotions I have right now,’ said music director Eric Jacobsen…. The audience was vociferously appreciative of the music, rattling the stadium floor with foot-stomping and applauding between symphonic movements…. The orchestra was as fired up as the crowd, cruising through a jaunty ‘Maple Leaf Rag’ and a more stately ‘Sophisticated Lady.’ [In] Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor … soloist Simone Porter … made stellar phrasing look effortless…. Jumbotron closeups meant we could really appreciate the efforts of all the musicians, even as many of them were wiping their faces with towels throughout Tchaikovsky’s athletically robust Symphony No. 4…. This was a homecoming—and a triumphant one at that.”
