Spunk, emotion punctuate BSO’s opening concert

ORONO – Four elements – the national anthem, a song of mourning, a nationalist statement and a meditation on faith – made up the canny program for Bangor Symphony Orchestra’s opening concert of the season Sunday.

It may have struck some in the audience at the Maine Center for the Arts that the themes were reflective of the patriotism, apprehension and hopefulness hovering over the country. And what better medium to turn to for catharsis, comfort and inspiration than music made by a community orchestra, especially one that has been around for 107 seasons.

This was also the inaugural concert of Maestro Xiao-Lu Li, who just a year ago wooed symphony-goers with similarly compelling themes that, along with fine music-making, assured him a spot in the annals of BSO history. The spunk and emotion of Sunday’s concert was a reminder of just why Li won the contest after last year’s audition process: He is three parts musician, one part showman. Clearly, the combination allows the music and the musicians to shine.

With the unscheduled presentation of the “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the concert bounded off to a rousing start. According to the program the next piece was to be “Lament for the Thousands,” written by the late Bangor composer Kay Gardner. But it may be that Gardner’s work, written in response to Sept. 11, was too powerfully sad and symbolic to follow the patriotic hymn. Whatever the reason, Li leapt directly into Mikhail Glinka’s overture to “Ruslan and Ludmilla,” which was breathlessly quick and exclamatory.

At that point, the audience was truly prepared for the deep brass, the earthy strings and the thrumming timpani in Gardner’s piece. For those who knew Gardner, the two-minute work was a memorial to a tirelessly artistic woman, and, in its painful beauty, it was also a powerful depiction of grief.

Pallavi Mihidhara, a 15-year-old pianist from the Washington, D.C., area, brought youthful renewal to the stage with a bountiful performance of Camille Saint-Saens’ Piano Concerto No. 2. Mihidhara effortlessly showed a wide dynamic range in this dazzling piece, and the orchestra, for its part, played with great collegiality and warmth. The balance surely would have suited Saint-Saens, who so lovingly wove the two components together.

Mihidhara won an immediate standing ovation and was persuaded by Li to offer an affectionate encore in “Love’s Sorrows,” by violinist Fritz Kreisler and transcribed for piano by Sergei Rachmaninoff.

The orchestra devoted the second half of the concert to Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5, which, although the composer labeled it artificial and repellent, is, nevertheless, the most popular of his six symphonies. The BSO, playing sensitively and declaratively, underscored why.

In the second movement, Scott Burditt on French horn offered moments of authoritative intensity. The hard-driving finale, which Li tightened and tightened and tightened until it practically exploded, was – despite Tchaikovsky’s accusation of exaggeration – an exuberant expression of faith and a potent end to the concert.