This weekend’s Pittsburgh Symphony program presented three works in reverse chronological order. Returning to the Heinz Hall podium was guest conductor Giancarlo Guerrero, substituting for the originally scheduled Cristian Mӑcelaru. Opening the evening was the 2021 work Sprout by Sean Shepherd in what was essentially its first live performance.
Sprout was written for California’s Cabrillo Festival. With a premiere slated during the pandemic, its only previous performance saw the musicians sequestered in their individual homes and playing to a virtual audience. Friday night also served as a homecoming for the work, as Shepherd was living in Pittsburgh at the time of its composition. The title refers to the new growth of the Golden State's mighty redwood trees, even in the wake of devastating wildfires. Earthy tones evoke the natural world, and the composer writes with a delicate, detailed orchestration. Matters grow in urgency, only to retreat. Though attractive, the brief five-minute work felt like an incomplete thought.
Khachaturian’s 1940 Violin Concerto in D minor was a flashy platform for the PSO debut of Nemanja Radulović. Following a heavy-handed introduction, the violin entered, never to have a moment without high-wire virtuosity. Radulović offered a raspy, guttural tone, stylistically fitting for the thematic material’s origins in Armenian folk music. In the passages that soared high into his instrument’s range, Radulović’s tone was rich with vibrato and the wide-ranging cadenza was of coruscating virtuosity.
A sultry melody opened the Andante sostenuto, contrasted by a more animated central section. Bold and brash, the finale introduced a playful, folksy theme in what was a rapid, high-octane affair. The excitement of the virtuosity notwithstanding, it's a work that’s ultimately more show than substance. As if the concerto didn’t prove his technical aplomb, Radulović encored with Paganini’s Caprice no. 24 in A minor. I was particularly impressed with his buoyant spiccato.
Guerrero closed the program with Brahms’ Symphony no. 4 in E minor, a score he opted to conduct from memory. Without hesitation, the conductor plunged the orchestra into the rise and fall of the opening gesture, starting as if in the middle of a melodic line. Proceeding with dignified purpose, the performance struck a serious tone without becoming pedantic. Clangorous brass – though not always in taut coordination – added luster to the richly layered textures.
The Allegro giocoso third movement contrasted the rest of the work with its haughty, rambunctious spirit, even decorated by the tinsel of the triangle. A stern chorale formed the granite spine of the finale, undergoing a myriad of transformations through the course of this remarkable Passacaglia.
