Cheryl Mazak
Cellist Amanda Forsyth appeared with her husband, violinist Pinchas Zukerman.
Elegantly played music, like sparkling conversation, lingers in the heart and mind long after the sounds themselves have faded. Friday’s performance at Overture Center by violinist Pinchas Zukerman and his wife, cellist Amanda Forsyth, with the Madison Symphony Orchestra falls into both categories.
Appearing as a duo for the first time with the Madison Symphony since 2010, the couple celebrated Valentine’s Day by reprising their first appearance with the orchestra in 2001, performing Johannes Brahms’ Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra in A minor, Op. 102. The musical “conversation” between violin and cello, backed by the full orchestra, was a welcome return for most fans, who greeted Brahms’ last orchestral work with both enthusiasm and appreciation.
The 34-minute concerto was flanked front and back by Hector Berlioz’ Le Corsaire overture, which opened the evening, and Aaron Copland’s Symphony No. 3, which closed it. The well-conceived playlist offered something for all classical fans.
At just nine minutes, the Berlioz piece, known as La Tour de Nice when the composer started it in 1831, was a brightly robust composition filled with orchestral colors. Legend has it that Berlioz was inspired to write it after being swept overboard at sea during a violent storm and saved by a Venetian corsair, or pirate. The incident’s truth is unknown, but the composition’s salty, nautical overtones made it a suitable evening opener on a chilly night.
With its three movements, Brahms’ 1887 concerto offered a wider range of emotion for the soloists, with Forsyth’s elegant cello lines often taking the lead in their “conversations.” Zukerman’s sweetly played violin would respond, coaxing that conversation down musical paths capturing the composer’s bold passions, which were well interpreted by both performers’ musical mastery.
After a standing ovation, Zukerman and Forsyth offered an encore duet for violin and cello by composer Reinhold Glière. The musical conversation continued in the same masterful “voice.”
Few orchestral voices are as distinct as those found in the works of Copland, whose Billy the Kid, Rodeo and Appalachian Spring embody the essence of classical Americana. Copland’s Symphony No. 3, composed in 1944, follows on the heels of the previous works chronologically and in both its musical content and emotional intent. The symphony lacks the overt presence of the folk idioms that often crept into Copland’s previous works, instead elevating their influence to a higher, more musically mature level.
Listening to it was like discovering Copland all over again, and when the fourth movement quoted the composer’s familiar “Fanfare for the Common Man,” we knew the outstanding interpretation by Madison Symphony Orchestra under the baton of maestro John DeMain had brought us home again.
The program repeats in Overture Hall Saturday, Feb. 15, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 16, at 2:30 p.m.
