One wondered at the wisdom of so challenging a Dallas Symphony Orchestra program a mere week before the orchestra takes totally different music on a packed...
Guest conductor Vasily Petrenko leads the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, with pianist Denis Kozhukhin, at the Meyerson Symphony Center on May 23, 2024.. But there it was Thursday night, at the Meyerson Symphony Center, with guest conductor Vasily Petrenko: the world premiere of composer Andrea Basevi’s, the Prokofiev Second Piano Concerto and William Walton’s First Symphony.
A DSO commission, 13 minutes long, the Basevi was pleasant enough as an opener. Although lines of the nature-evoking poems were projected over the stage, printed texts in the program book would have been helpful.The orchestra repeatedly evoked bird calls. “The Wind” opened with undulating “oohs” from the chorus. “To Make a Prairie” flashed and flitted.
As if determined to show off every possible bit of wizardry, each movement arguably outstays its welcome. I kept imagining the great French composition teacher Nadia Boulanger saying, “Why didn’t you stop when you were finished?”But in a work littered with minefields, Petrenko evinced a sure grasp of means and ends. While Thursday’s performance might have been more tautly focused here and there, the orchestra razzled and dazzled quite impressively.
To judge by recordings, Prokofiev was a rather elegant pianist, not at all a banger. Kozhukhin took a pretty muscular approach, sometimes drowning out orchestral parts that needed to be heard. But his was a gripping performance, with nobility as well as power and virtuosity. Apart from those occasional balance issues, Petrenko and the orchestra contributed apt atmosphere as well as flash and flair. A roaring ovation was rewarded with the gentle “In Church” from Tchaikovsky’sRepeats at 7:30 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Sunday at Meyerson Symphony Center, 2301 Flora St. $39 to $189. 214-849-4376,, Special Contributor.
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