Richard Strauss's symphonic poem "Death and Transfiguration" conveys the struggles and vindication of an artist who could realize his highest aspirations only through his tormented passage to the next world. DeMain could not transcend the score's episodic character, but he paced it as sonorous melodrama, to magnificently powerful effect.
But the real news of the concert might have been missed by many of those attending. Finally escaping the standard American aberration of orchestral seating, DeMain has at last placed the second violins on the right, where they belong, opposite the firsts on the left. So much music was composed with that opposition in mind, one that reveals the regular interplay between the two sections, while clarifying the string part writing and inner textures. It gave me new enjoyment in our orchestra's sound. Let's hope this becomes a permanent change.
