Violinist enchants at BSO concert

ORONO – Violinist Chen Xi missed his dress rehearsal Saturday night with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra. He was stuck in Philadelphia in the weekend snowstorm that grounded most flights in the Northeast.

Concertgoers couldn’t tell Sunday afternoon that the 22-year-old Chinese-born violinist had skipped a practice session. Xi’s precise and exacting execution of Jean Sibelius’ Violin Concerto in D minor pinned audience members at the Maine Center for the Arts to their seats and set their pulses racing.

Xi, who finally arrived in Bangor about noon Sunday sans luggage, looked a little out of place in his turtleneck shirt and slacks instead of the customary tuxedo. Once he jumped into the first movement, however, no one cared what he was wearing – every ear and eye was focused on his playing.

Despite his youth, Xi elicited all the subtle fire and delicate joy from the piece without appearing to work up a sweat. He delved into the music and offered up each movement as if he was presenting a newly-mined precious gem.

Born in Sheyang, China, Xi made his debut at that city’s conservatory at the age of 8. Nine years later, he represented his nation at the 12th International Tchaikovsky Violin Competition and won. He then enrolled at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

Xi may have been the kind of violinist Sibelius had in mind when the native of Finland composed his violin concerto. The composer, unlike Xi, did not begin playing the violin until he was 15 and eventually decided his late start was too much to overcome.

The audience Sunday jumped to its feet and cheered Xi’s performance as orchestra members eagerly clapped, some even shaking their heads in awe. At the urging of conductor Xiao-Lu Li, the violinist treated the audience to a short encore so full of passion, Xi practically set himself and the staid concert hall on fire.

The BSO also performed Ludwig van Beethoven’s King Stephen Overture. Named for the founder of the Hungarian kingdom and organizer of the Hungarian Christian Church, the piece was first performed in 1812 at the opening of the German theater in Pest, the capital of Hungary. It was a fine prelude to the Sibelius and the orchestra captured all the bombast and splendor that is Beethoven.

The second half of the concert began by honoring longtime BSO cellist Juliet Spangler Kellogg, who died earlier this year. Samuel Barber’s Adagio for strings was played at President John F. Kennedy’s funeral and was used in the scores for the movies “Platoon” and “Elephant Man.” It was a fine and fitting tribute to Kellogg, who played with the orchestra from 1953 to 1988.

The BSO, however, did not successfully make the transition to Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 3 in F major, the concert’s closing piece. The strings trounced all over the delicate moments and the sweetness of the motives in the major keys was lost. It sounded as if the players simply ran out of gas and cruised through the Brahms until coming to a gentle stop.