The Press Democrat, January 13, 2003

The Santa Rosa Symphony soared on the melodic wings of Romanticism on Saturday night, giving a solid and satisfying performance of works by Beethoven, Korngold and Schumann under the baton of Conductor Laureate Corrick Brown. 

While the program tilted a bit heavily toward the Romantic era, it provided a nice balance with the first two concerts of the season, which were dominated by a postmodernist piano concerto by John Adams and the neo-Baroque German Requiem by Johannes Brahms. 

Further contrasts were provided by the two main works themselves. Schumann's Symphony No. 4 in D minor is a dark, brooding work that strongly hints of the composer's ultimate descent into madness. 

Korngold's Violin Concerto, written in D Major, emanates innocence and bliss, especially in the eerie and ethereal middle movement. This music is so pure of heart, it seems to have been spun from gold. 

Of course, it helped that the Korngold concerto was played with utter ease and confidence by the 28-year-old Russian-American violinist Philip Quint, who feels a deep empathy with the uber-Romantic work. 

Dressed in black tails and a black shirt, Quint looked like a teen-ager but played like a pro, with an effortless ease that belies the technical difficulties of the piece: double-stops, spiccato, harmonics and notes so unceasingly high that they appear to go beyond not only the fingerboard, but the bridge. 

Navigating the thin line between schmaltz and brilliance, Quint limned the concerto's soaring melodies with an exquisite combination of superb bow technique and muscular vibrato. To say his tone was sweet would be gross understatement. 

The audience was so transfixed by the first movement that they broke out into a spontaneuous applause after it ended. Quint gracefully acknowledged their enthusiasm with a rare smile. 

The moody middle movement, full of odd dissonances, was reminiscent of Holst's ``The Planets,'' while the irresistible Finale, with its flourishes of harp and marimba, French horn and trumpet, brought to mind the folksy melodies of Copland and Dvorak along with the triumphant theme from ``Star Wars.'' 

Of the three movements, the finale was the most entertaining, replete with the Hollywood charm that Korngold acquired as a film composer for Warner Brothers during the 1930s. 

From the podium, Brown kept the colorful orchestra accompaniment neatly in place, and after the finale reached its breath-taking conclusion, the audience responded with a well-deserved standing ovation. 

During the second half of the program, Brown led the orchestra in a workmanlike rendition of Schumann's 4th Symphony, guiding the orchestra with classical restraint and discipline. Dynamics were nicely drawn, rhythms stayed crisp, the tempos and rubatos flowed naturally. 

Playing by the lower half of the orchestra -- violas, cellos and basses -- sounded particularly inspired, and both solos by Concertmaster Joe Edelberg and Principal Cellist Robin Bonnell, together with the oboe, came off with elegance and ease. 

The concert opened with an uplifting rendition of Beethoven's beloved ``Egmont'' Overture, which lent classical balance to the rest of the program. 

The violins sounded particularly warm in tone, the woodwinds sang with with brightness and verve, and the accelerandos were nicely controlled by Brown. 

Only one sloppy entrance by the strings, who were unsure of where the downbeat fell, marred this crowd-pleasing curtain-opener. 

The Santa Rosa Symphony will repeat the Saturday program at 8 tonight at the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, 50 Mark West Springs Rd., Santa Rosa. Tickets cost $24-$45. Call 546-8742. 

You can reach Staff Writer Diane Peterson at 521-5287 or dpeterson@pressdemocrat.com.