Guest cellist, Florida Orchestra stir the soul

TAMPA - Guest soloist Mark Kosower wowed the audience Friday night at Ferguson Hall of Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, where the cellist joined the Florida Orchestra, conducted by Stefan Sanderling, in an astounding performance of Victor Herbert's Cello Concerto No. 2 in E minor.

The program began with Steven Stucky's Dreamwaltzes, which winds and twists through many moods, beginning with a hint of bells followed by the fluttering of flutes, the music seemingly drifting into the hall from another room. Composed in 1986, the piece was at times reminiscent of music from the old Twilight Zone television series, with dramatic transitions, unexpected whimsical sounds and abruptly escalating tempos. Then as suddenly as the tempo picked up, the music drifted back out of the hall, as if taken away on a breeze. Sanderling's precision and rapport with the musicians made this a delightful opener.

Herbert's concerto, composed in 1893-1894, was stirring and lively. Kosower exuded serene intensity throughout the complex 23-minute piece. In the second movement, the solo was mesmerizing, his intuitive phrasing producing a rich, sweeping rendering that was both melancholy and bold. The third movement reprised elements of the first, ending in an exhilarating grand flourish.

The final selection on the program, Antonin Dvorak's New World Symphony, is considered an expression of his vision of the United States. The Czech composer, who came to New York in 1892 to direct a music school, weaved several recurring themes inspired by his love of African-American spirituals through the entire work. The result is a classic blend of familiar passages that are hard to resist humming aloud, even in a concert hall.

The first movement began with a subtly rising ebb of strings, the sound deepened in timbre by the entrance of the brass. The fluidity of the intertwining flute and oboe conjured a languidly flowing river as the Goin' Home theme emerged. Solos by principal flute Demarre McGill and Joyce James on English horn in the second movement were particularly enjoyable.

The mood shifted with the stirring of flutes followed by brass and strings as the languid river transformed into a mighty, thundering flow of sound. The third movement featured two interlacing trios echoing the recurring theme. The rising tide of the finale swept over the audience, with lusty bursts of brass building to a crescendo, then receded as the notes fell away, leaving a hushed hall. Thunderous applause and a standing ovation followed.

The Florida Orchestra repeats its program at 7:30 p.m. today at Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater. $21-$45.

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