Juilliard Chamber Orchestra at Lincoln Center

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Thursday, 23 April 2026 13:58

Written by Jack Angstreich

Photo is by Rachel Papo, courtesy of Juilliard

At Lincoln Center’s superb Alice Tully Hall, on the night of Thursday, February 26th, I had the privilege to attend an excellent concert presented by the Juilliard Chamber Orchestra. 

The event started auspiciously with an accomplished account of Hugo Wolf’s wonderful Italian Serenade, from 1892, which is an orchestral arrangement from an original version for string quartet from 1887, and is the composer’s most famous instrumental work. (A striking moment in it occurs when a solo cello recitative registers a more solemn mood contrasting with the general lightness of the piece.)

An impressive soloist, Solomon Ge, then emerged to rewardingly perform Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s marvelous Piano Concerto No. 25 in C Major, K. 503, from 1786. The initial, Allegro maestoso movement has a stately opening that precedes stirring music with a symphonic quality; the entry of the piano brings a different, more reflective element, but the soloist too becomes energetic before the ensemble reverts to a less extroverted episode. After this, the music becomes sustainedly jubilant except for the introspective cadenza, before the movement closes triumphantly. The ensuing Andanteis elegant and radiantly beautiful with an enchanting lyricism; it ends softly. The Allegretto finale is more dance-like, although the solo piano part has a more exploratory character on the whole; this movement too has a majestic cast at times as well as some urgency, but it concludes joyously.

The second half of the evening was also quite strong, beginning with an effective rendition of George Walker’s fine Lyric for Strings, from 1990. In an interview in the New York Times from 1982, the composer interestingly said:

There's no way I can conceal my identity as a Black composer. I have a very strong feeling for the Negro spiritual and have also drawn from American folk songs, and popular and patriotic tunes, which I believe merit inclusion in serious compositions.

The program finished memorably with a transporting realization of Felix Mendelssohn’s exquisite Symphony No. 4 in A Major, Op. 90, the “Italian,” from 1833. The first, Allegro vivace movement is ebullient and very characteristic of the composer’s sensibility and not without mysterious measures; it becomes more dynamic before it closes affirmatively. The succeeding, graceful Andante con motoprojects a more serious ethos, while the melodious, subsequent movement, marked Con moto moderato, has a Trio section that is simultaneously noble, quasi-bucolic, and somewhat subdued. The Presto finale, a Saltarello, moves forward breathlessly and features astonishing fugal writing before ending forcefully.

Deservedly, the artists received a standing ovation.

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