Posted on: Tuesday, May 15, 2001

Symphony Review
Feltsman, symphony shine on Prokofiev

By Gregory Shepherd

Almost as effortlessly as most people tie their shoelaces, guest soloist Vladimir Feltsman made quick work of Sergei Prokofiev's thunderous Piano Concerto No. 1 on Sunday's Honolulu Symphony program, which will be repeated this evening.

Written as a competition piece when Prokofiev was a 20-year-old student at St. Petersburg Conservatory, the concerto is a bravura patchwork that was no doubt calculated to impress the composer's professors. Nevertheless, it heralds one of the most important Russian composers of the 20th century.

Clad in his trademark black tunic, Feltsman strode confidently to the piano as if to the first tee of a golf course.

If there was any area of the concerto that proved exceptionally difficult during the learning phase, Feltsman gave no such indication. The fire and general mayhem of the fast movements were no match for his consummate technical abilities, and at one point during an orchestral interlude he even turned to the front row and smiled a greeting to several audience members. Not five seconds later he was back to capering up and down the keyboard with double octaves and sparkling scalar passages.

Conductor Samuel Wong kept pace with Feltsman throughout the three movements, and the finely honed ensemble they achieved was seamless. One could sense that painstaking preparation on the part of all involved went into making the concerto sound so easily tossed off.

Feltsman performed an encore of Liszt's transcription of Robert Schumann's song "Widmung (Dedication)."

For those who prefer a more morose side of Russian music, Shostakovich's Symphony No. 15 was the perfect antidote to any cheerfulness of the day. However well played, the symphony seemed an odd choice to close this Mother's Day program.

Susan McGinn's flute solo resonated nicely to open the first movement while concertmaster Ignace Jang, cellist Gregory Dubay, tubist David Saltzman, and trombonist James T. Decker contributed fine solo work as well in the second movement. The percussion section proved up to the many daunting tasks Shostakovich crafted for them, as well.

There are no doubt those whose three desert island recordings would include this dismal symphony, and I fervently pray that I never get marooned with them. Going down with the ship would be preferable.

The program opened with an under-rehearsed rendition of Prokofiev's "Lt. Kije Suite." No doubt the bulk of rehearsal time went to the two large works of the program, although Michael Zonshine's offstage trumpet solos added real distinction to the performance of the suite.

Gregory Shepherd has been the Advertiser's classical music critic since1987.

At Ticket Plus, military outlets, www.honolulusymphony.com or phone charges at 792-2000