Vancouver Symphony kicks off seasion with a Russian flare

The Vancouver Symphony broke open the sonic champagne with an all-Russian program in its first concert to celebrate its 30th year.

Salvador Brotons, now in his 18th season as music director, led the orchestra in a program that featured the music of Glinka, Rachmaninov, and Tchaikovsky. The highlight of the concert was the orchestra’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, with the brass, woodwinds, strings, and percussion making a powerfully emotional statement.

Tchikovsky’s symphony, which came after the intermission, had lots of emotive drive that really brought out some breathtaking music.

The first movement opened with guns blazing from the brass section as they announced the massive “Fate” theme. The power and authority of their playing made me feel a little sorry for the woodwinds and strings sitting in front of them, but from the perspective of the audience it was glorious.

Solid playing by the woodwinds made the second movement a real treat. Principal oboist Pablo Izquierdo, principal clarinetist Igor Shakhman, and principal bassoonist Margaret McShea performed their exposed passages with sensitivity.

The strings handled the extensive pizzicato sections of the third movement very well, despite some of the first violins missing the topmost note a couple of times. Still, they nailed the crescendos and decrescendos and nicely handed off the theme from section to section.

The fourth movement had everyone playing all-out in fine fashion. Brotons, conducting from memory, used some super-dynamic gestures to wring the most out of the orchestra.

At one point, the music stopped so suddenly and dramatically that no one in the audience seemed to take a breath. The reaction from the audience at the end of the piece was ecstatic.

Before intermission, pianist Geisa Dutra made her debut with the orchestra in Rachmaninov’s “Rhaposdy on a Theme of Paganini,” To my ears, this piece just didn’t gel. The tempos were slow for the most part, and Dutra played so softly that I couldn’t tell if she missed some notes or I just couldn’t hear them.

In any case, the soloist and the orchestra seemed to never get quite in sync with each other. The piece contains many dazzling variations, but they never quite got there. The best part was the lyrical and gorgeous theme of variation 18..

The concert began with Glinka’s Overture to his opera “Ruslan and Lyudmila.” It had plenty of zip and sparkle to get your toes tapping. The strings, especially the violins and the cellos, played the wickedly fast passages with a clean tone, and that was fun to hear.

Before all of the music began, Renee Newman, chairman of the board, announced that the season would be dedicated to former concertmaster Alexander “Sasha” Gokhman and violist Jon Jordens, both of whom recently passed away.