REVIEW

Cellist Weilerstein
plays with passion

It is a special pleasure to hear a young musician so in command of her instrument that she not only thrills with her virtuosity but touches with the depth of her emotion.

Alisa Weilerstein

Concert When: 4 p.m. today Where: Blaisdell Concert Hall Tickets: $21, $33, $43, $51 and $64 Call: 792-2000

Friday's Honolulu Symphony concert with guest cellist Alisa Weilerstein offered just such an experience.

Weilerstein began playing cello at age 4, made her debut with the Cleveland Orchestra at age 13, and burst onto the New York scene with a Carnegie Hall debut at age 15. Now 22, she is a veteran of performances in major venues around the world.

The featured work on Friday was the "Dvor‡k Cello Concerto, op. 104," written toward the end of the composer's three-year stay in the United States in the 1890s.

It opens with a somewhat rambling orchestral introduction, allowing Weilerstein's passionate, authoritative solo entrance to have maximum impact. At the second theme, we heard her real strength as she displayed a warm, singing tone in this lyrical section.

The second movement highlighted her exquisite delicacy and inner feeling, while the final movement left no doubts about her imposing technique and flawless intonation. The audience and players were equally enthusiastic in applauding a performance that was a rare combination of youthful exuberance and the wisdom of experience.

The concert began with another Dvor‡k piece, the sparkling "Carnival Overture, op. 92." The orchestra displayed rhythmic precision and solid ensemble, infusing the entire performance with an energetic, driving sound. Guest conductor Emil de Cou successfully brought out the contrasting dynamics to create antiphonal blocks of sound.

The second half of the concert was devoted to Brahms' monumental "Symphony No. 4." This late work is among the most serious compositions of a composer known for dark, heavy works.

The brooding opening movement builds to a climactic ending that elicited spontaneous applause from Friday's audience. The final movement is in the form of a chaconne, a set of variations on an eight-measure theme. Brahms updates this Baroque formal structure by eliding successive variations and building an inexorable intensification to the end. The symphony featured impressive solo work by clarinetist Kevin Anderson and flutist Susan McGinn, who was also featured in some lovely duets with Weilerstein in the concerto.

Emil de Cou is associate conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra, performing also at Wolf Trap. His family moved from Portugal to Honokaa on the Big Island in the 1880s, giving him a unique connection to Hawaii.

He held the orchestra together with precision, and he spent the evening urging the players toward more expressivity in crescendos, which finally reached fruition in the Brahms.