NY String Orchestra 2nd concert review

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts
Category: Reviews
Published on Monday, 24 January 2011 03:36
Written by Jack Angstreich

New York String OrchestraThe second of the two recent New York String Orchestra concerts at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Jaime Laredo -- this one took place on December 28th, 2010 -- was much more impressive than the agreeable first program.

The highlight of the evening for me was the all-too-rarely performed, arresting Samuel Barber Capricorn Concerto for Flute, Oboe, Trumpet, and Strings. Played with a full command of the glittering range of tone of this engaging work, the orchestra was superbly matched by an accomplished trio of soloists: Tara Helen O'Connor on flute, Ariana Ghez on oboe, and David Washburn on trumpet.

The ensemble did fine work with the more ambitious concerto that followed -- the Romantic, tuneful Brahms Double Concerto for Violin and Cello --here accompanying soloists Daniel Hope and Paul Watkins, respectively.

That extraordinary masterpiece, the Beethoven Eroica Symphony, closed the evening -- Laredo led the players in an estimable reading of this titanic but also very familiar work, managing by the program's end to fully redeem the promise of the previous week's concert.

New York String Orchestra Concert
December 28, 2010
Carnegie Hall
881 7th Ave.
New York, NY 10019
212-247-7800