Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, September 14, 1993                   TAG: 9309140195
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SETH WILLIAMSON SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

RSO SEASON OPENER COMBINES OLD, NEW WITH GREAT SUCCESS

There were a lot of satisfied customers at the Roanoke Civic Center for a program which included two 20th-century concert favorites and a new piano concerto partly commissioned by the RSO.

And speaking of Adolphus Hailstork's Piano Concerto - if you've been leery of new classical music, this piece is enough to convince even the most hardened skeptic that it's safe to go back in the water. Premiered last year by Leon Bates, the same pianist who soloed Monday night, the piece contained some of the most beautiful lyric writing every heard in a new work from the RSO.

Maestra Bond chose the 1919 version of "The Firebird" suite by Igor Stravinsky to begin the program. With the possible exception of a few messy entrances in "The Princesses' Dance," this performance was excellent from start to finish. The RSO sounded BIG and full, not an easy thing to bring off without a custom-designed acoustic shell in the Roanoke Civic Center.

Bond coaxed a lush tone from her string players appropriate to the ripe late Romanticism of Stravinsky's first creative period. There was beautiful solo work from any number of players, most notably principal oboist Valarie Mullison, whose gorgeous tone and musical playing were a delight. Also contributing brilliant solo work were principal hornist Wally Easter and bassonist Doug Kehlinbrink. All three were recognized by Bond at the conclusion of the work, which earned instantaneous applause and many shouts of approval.

The Piano Concerto of Virginia Beach composer Adolphus Hailstork is an example of the fresh air that's been blowing in American composition for the past 15 years or more. Hailstork, who is composer-in-residence at Norfolk State University, is notable for his directness of expression, a triad-based harmonic idiom, and a lyricism which can be frankly ravishing at times.

Despite the troubles which Hailstork claimed to have had in creating this piece, it was notable for its fluency, especially in the beautifully melodic second movement. The piano is there from the outset of the first movement, doubled by the first violins as it states the modest first theme. For a while the dance-like triple-time second theme promised to end the movement in a blaze of light, but Hailstork surprised us with an unexpectedly quiet ending.

The middle movement was notable for its singing lyricism. It began and ended with Coplandesque open fifths; throughout this movement pianist Leon Bates spun out melodies of a meditative and melancholy beauty, beginning with a long solo statement.

The final movement began with a raucous outburst from the orchestra, with the piano playing in a percussive mode throughout most of the section. When the piece ended after a waltz-like coda and final enthusiastic statement of the theme, there were immediate shouts of "Bravo!" and a standing ovation from most of the audience.

Ottorino Respighi's "The Pines of Rome" was the post-intermission work. After an energetic romp through the first movement ("Pines of the Villa Borghese"), the RSO had trouble playing together during the darkly evocative "Pines Near a Catacomb."

The final "Pines of the Appian Way" featured an eight-player brass section who performed from the balcony as the piece built to a tremendous finish. Again, the audience responded with yells of approval and a standing ovation.

\ AUTHOR Seth Williamson produces feature news stories and a classical music program on public radio station WVTF (89.1 FM) in Roanoke.