Season’s anticipation grows

Something light and sparkling, full and rare, familiar and soulful: a perfect musical recipe for a long-awaited weekend.

Honolulu Symphony With guest conductor Toshiyuki Shimada and organ soloist Anthony Newman In concert: 4 p.m. today Place: Blaisdell Concert Hall Tickets: $22 to $73 Call: 792-2000 or Ticketmaster, 877-750-4400

The Honolulu Symphony, guest conductor Toshiyuki Shimada and organist Anthony Newman perform the wholesome formula this weekend, including Berlioz's "Roman Carnival Overture" (1844), Jongen's "Symphonie Concertante, Op. 81" (1926), and Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 "Eroica" (1803).

Dedicated to the late Dale Bechtel, Honolulu Symphony violinist and teacher, the concert requires continuous focus and musicianship.

On Friday, the flickering instrumental statements and the original orchestration in Berlioz's piece -- including two arias from "Benvenuto Cellini" -- created excitement as if it were introducing the opera. This enthused performance had us looking forward to opera season.

The full, rich and thick textures of Jungen's "Symphonie" instead gave instant gratification. Shimada concentrated throughout the piece, and the orchestra and Newman on the CDS concert organ never took a break. Four substantial movements kept the audience frozen for more than half an hour.

Orchestra and organ always converse and occasionally overlap, sometimes sounding bombastic and other times soft. One wonders how the musicians are able to hear each other.

The almost superhuman task of the organist in the second and fourth movements has an almost improvisational character. Newman never missed a beat.

Paradoxically, the slow third movement is the most complex. The music slowly builds up from a light flute solo, gracefully played by Susan McGinn, and the calm sounds of the harp, woodwinds and strings, to the fiery sonorities of the brass and organ, and back to the lighter texture. But the difficult and temporary equilibrium between volumes and colors was achieved with taste.

The magic of Jongen's piece ended on the "Toccata" finale and the coda, knocking us out after little breathing.

After the interval, another giant work. Considered a revolutionary milestone in the history of classical music, Beethoven's Third is about twice as long as any symphony that came before. It features a "Funeral March" in the second movement, and the finale comprises a lengthy set of variations and a fugue.

The familiar "Third" and its heroic character were introduced in a brief presentation by Shimada.

Familiarity comes from repetition. The recurrence of motives from the main and secondary themes is a trademark of Beethoven's music. However, in the third symphony, the motives' fragmentation makes the piece exciting. We hear a motive, then a fragment of this motive, then another fragment -- and all seem to accelerate the tempo.

Framed by fast movements performed with verve and control, the "Funeral March" seemed a little too slow to articulate the emotional tension. The basses and timpanist Stuart Chafetz did a great job as usual, and the finale framed the concert on a powerful note.