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Orchestra Has Night Of Symphonic Delight

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By KURT LOFT, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 5, 2008

TAMPA - Anyone curious about the evolution of the symphony should bend an ear to this weekend's offering by The Florida Orchestra, which pairs two shining examples of the art by composers in their first and final attempts.

The symphony has come a long way from its childhood as a sinfonia, a sort of musical trailer designed to make audiences stop talking and pay attention. Clever composers added new twists until it grew from a polite reminder to a multi-layered main event.

The orchestra presented its shortest and purist program of the season Friday night at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, with guest conductor Gunther Herbig spinning contrast between Mozart's Symphony No. 41, "Jupiter," and the Symphony No. 1 of Finland's greatest composer, Jean Sibelius.

Conducting from memory, the 76-year-old Herbig showed his affinity for Sibelius' luscious symphony, urging musicians into moments of resplendent rhapsody. Brian Moorhead's lamenting clarinet solo at the onset was a study in poise, and the orchestra was marvelous in its way with suspended climaxes and intense rhythmic turns in the inner movements. They created an infectious atmosphere in the closing fantasia, the only distraction being a low hum in the hall during breaks between movements.

Mozart opened the night, and if the allegro sounded a bit too glossy for some tastes, individual details soon surfaced liked bubbles rising in a pond. The orchestra generated plenty of sparkle in the two movements leading up to the finale, when it unleashed five separate themes in a collision between fugue and sonata - without question one of the great finishes in all music.

Performances continue at 8 tonight at the Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg, and at 8 p.m. Monday at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater.

Reporter Kurt Loft can be reached at (813) 259-7570 or kloft@tampatrib.com

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