Violinists turn Bach tune into love song> musical couple join BSO for performance

Every couple has a tune it calls “our song.” For world-class violinists Pamela Frank and Andrew Simionescu, who also happen to be engaged, the tune so designated is Bach’s Concerto For Two Violins and Orchestra in D Minor. If this choice is symbolic of their relationship, they sure enough are off to a good start. Bach took care to give equal time to each of the solo parts — reversing roles, letting each one shine, echo or augment the melodies. And it has long been a favorite of hot-shot musicians.

Rumor has it that Frank and Simionescu will perform the Bach “Double” at their wedding this summer. Yesterday, at a bodacious performance of the piece at the final classical concert of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra season, the violinists were radiant standing side by side. Frank is already known for the warmth and friendliness she presents at concerts. This felt like an even more intimate encounter, the two of them bemused at the opportunity to share something they clearly adore, smiling with a virtuosity nearly equal to their talents.

They set the perfect mood for a concert honoring the late Broadway singer and actress Benay Venuta, whose granddaughter Adele Adkins (principal cellist with the orchestra) and daughter Patricia Winter (part-time resident in Maine) arranged for the guest artists to appear.

At times, the Bach had a galloping fury to it. Elsewhere, such as with the slower second movement, it felt like a love song. But Simionescu and Frank authoritatively led the orchestra with rigorous and memorable badinage.

There wasn’t much time to catch a breath before the soloists took off in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra in E-flat Major. Although this piece had moments of freewheeling delight, it also showed extraordinary balance and snap from the orchestra and the soloists. You know it’s true love, Frank has said, when your fiance gives up his violin to play another instrument (in this case, the viola). But this diligent duo, who play with considerable boldness, seems to revel in unstoppability.

You know they authentically love music, too, because Simionescu and Frank showed up again for the second half of the concert, this time seated in the back row onstage to join the orchestra’s bright performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, also called the “Eroica.” Music director Christopher Zimmerman was nearly airborne as he piloted the orchestra with sharp attack and urgent drama. Although the day belonged to the strings, the woodwinds and brass sections — especially the French horns — were strikingly soulful and vivid.