Old, new provide great pleasure

ST. PETERSBURG -- An old favorite and a brand-new work bracketed the Florida Orchestra's program Thursday night. Most of the crowd in the Mahaffey Theater at Bayfront Center were there to hear the sensational teenage pianist, Lang Lang, in Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2, and they were rewarded with a blazing performance.

But it was also a distinct pleasure to hear an orchestra that plays so much standard repertoire in the premiere of Joseph Landers' Shadow Play (Music for an Imaginary Puppet Play), dedicated to music director Jahja Ling. Between the Landers, which opened the program, and the Rachmaninoff came the Sibelius Symphony No. 1.

Inspired by the gamelan music of Indonesia, Shadow Play created a wash of delicate, shifting tone colors, with gently played percussion, including marimba, glockenspiel, vibraphone, even sleigh bells. Rhythmically simple, the piece runs only 11 minutes, but it still has a narrative of sorts about rival princes seeking the hand of a princess. The princes were evoked in an intricate exchange between principal trumpet Robert Smith and principal cello James Connors.

The wind section shone, with fine playing by principal flute Demarre McGill and piccolo Lewis Sligh. Near the end, the horn section briefly quotes music from a sunrise in Wagner's Ring cycle. Unfortunately, Ling undercut the luminous effect of the close by dropping his arms so quickly that there was almost no silence between the final note and the applause.

Ling has never been one to embrace new music. His strength lies with the romantic classics, to which he brings a tremendous sense of belief. To hear him conduct Sibelius' First Symphony is about as good as it gets. He understands how to keep such a complex work, with all its byways into each section of the orchestra, from never losing its momentum. Principal clarinet Brian Moorhead was superb in the long, mysterious solo that begins the symphony.

Lang delivered a remarkable reading of Rachmaninoff's popular work, setting the tone with booming bass in the chordal progression that launches it. Great speed comes with the territory with a fiery young piano star, but this one is not without interpretative surprises, as in a treatment of the adagio that was so sensual as to be almost shocking.

Purists may sneer at Lang's Hollywood style -- soulfully gazing upward, his torso twisted, he had his right hand on the keyboard while his left arm was outstretched behind his back at one point -- but who cares when the result is piano playing of such power.

MUSIC REVIEW

The Florida Orchestra repeats the program at 8 tonight at Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center and 7:30 p.m. Monday at Ruth Eckerd Hall. Tickets: $20-$38.

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