Concertos bring out the best in contrasts

The Oregon Mozart Players open the season with four different aspects of

the concerto.

REVIEW By Peter Bergquist For The Register-Guard

The Oregon Mozart Players began their season under their new music

director, Glen Cortese, with concerts Saturday night at the Hult Center

and Sunday afternoon at Beall Hall, which is the one I attended. The

theme of their program was "All Concerti, All The Time," and its four

pieces showed four different aspects of the concerto idea.

The program began with a tasty performance of George Frideric Handel's

Concerto Grosso in F Major (Op. 6, No. 2) (…)

Guest soloist Yuri Rozum joined the orchestra for the next piece, Ludwig

van Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto (Op. 37, in C minor). In this kind

of concerto, the soloist stands more apart, as an individual voice on a

par with the orchestra. It's a dialogue between equals, sometimes a

competition between them.

In the Third Concerto, Beethoven is well on his way to the C minor of

stormy pieces such as the Fifth Symphony. Rozum and Cortese brought out

this aspect of the concerto very effectively, without downplaying its

more tender and lighthearted moments. It was a well planned and executed

performance in every way.

Rozum is a very fine pianist, as Eugene audiences know from his previous

appearances here. He did not disappoint in this concerto. Every note was

in place, and every shade of meaning was conveyed. His playing seemed

effortless, although the concerto clearly requires great handfuls of

technique. Rozum worked beautifully with the orchestra, taking the lead

when he should, and then laying back when the orchestra had the tune and

he was accompanying. Cortese collaborated expertly with him, following

and coordinating precisely every step of the way.

The orchestra played with precision and sensitivity. Rozum played the

cadenzas that Beethoven himself wrote for the concerto, which is always a

good choice (…)

Cortese led an exciting performance of this piece and indeed of the

entire program. He is a capable and imaginative conductor who already has

great rapport with the orchestra. This was a fine start to what should be

an enjoyable season.

Peter Berguist is a professor emeritus at the University of Oregon School

of Music. He reviews classical music for The Register-Guard.