Written in 1787, it was one of two works commissioned by Johann Peter Tost, a second violinist in Haydn’s Eszterházy Orchestra. 88 in G, which follows the composer’s “Paris” Symphonies. It was masterly playing from one of the most distinguished performers residing in South Florida.įigueroa opened the program with Haydn’s Symphony No. Oliveira, artist-in-residence at the Lynn Conservatory of Music, despite being covered by them at times, had the measure of the solo part, as one would expect from the dedicatee. They would have counted for more in the hands of more experienced players who would know how to quickly elicit their character.ĭespite the work’s challenges, Figueroa led the Lynn Philharmonia in a satisfying exposition. In fact, such episodes are heard throughout the work rising above the tutti. It begins that way but becomes more episodic as it progresses, with mini-duets with the woodwinds.

The Allegro con spirito finale is described by Sortomme as a moto perpetuo. In this instance, however, its material was more episodic, with only disjunct lyrical interludes. “Romance” ordinarily would suggest a lyric, sometimes elegiac, character in the solo violin. The second movement, “Chorale and Romance,” opens with a brass chorale that strong suggests Prokofiev. The opening Moderato movement was alternately lush, grotesque and arid (especially in the rather stillborn solo cadenza midway through the movement). Dense textures sometimes obscure the solo line, particularly when the tessitura ascends to the sopranino register, which it does at several climactic moments throughout the work, thus diminishing its brilliance. His orchestra glows and glitters appealingly. The two works are of about equal length (30 minutes) and share elaborate and inventive orchestration, which sustains interest in Sortomme’s Concerto even when his invention occasionally flags. In three movements, the work was inspired (according to the composer’s program note) by the Violin Concerto of Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957), written in 1945 and premiered two years later in St. Elmar Oliveira commissioned the work and premiered it in Savannah last year. The latter was a violin concerto by American composer Richard Sortomme (b. In its initial concert of the current academic year, the Lynn Philharmonia and its conductor, Guillermo Figueroa, offered a satisfyingly meaty program of standard repertoire and a novelty.

Guillermo figueroa violin