Monday, March 16, 2009 Boise Philharmonic review: "Scandinavian Nights" is whole, balanced”, by Dana Oland

Music director Robert Franz created a beautiful symmetry with this Boise Philharmonic program that at other times has been lacking. Not that any of his previous choices were totally unpleasing, it is just that sometimes the closing symphony pales in comparison with the powerful opening pieces he chooses and fantastic solo performances the audience has been treated to over the season. Not so with Saturday night's performance at the Velma V. Morrison Center. The program was perfectly bookended with majestic horn calls in the opening "Helios" Overture by Danish composer Carl Nielsen and the closing Symphony No. 5 by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. In between, was Italian pianist Roberto Plano's masterful performance of Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto in A Minor. Plano attacked this piece with a delicious mix of strength in the opening descending chords and soft, nimble dexterity in the tranquil third movement. Working in tandem with Franz's energetic direction, Plano resuscitated this classical warhorse to vibrant life. Plano followed with a terrific and fun encore to Mozart's "Turkish Dance" that he took from pure classical to ragtime to honky-tonk. What a joy. The opening "Helios," a short, warm rendition of Mediterranean sunrise and sunset, featured senior members of the newly dubbed Boise Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (formerly Treasure Valley Youth Symphony), who made a wonderful debut with the orchestra. This bodes well for the future of classical music in the Valley. The Sibelius symphony was pure delight. Franz showed he has the magic touch with this orchestra. During the performance they developed beautifully the tension between pure classical form and musical expressionism that is at work in Sibelius' piece, creating the layers of "soundscape," as Franz referred to it, to perfection. If it were possible, the piece felt three-dimensional, as if sound could be illuminated, like dancers with side lighting.