BSO, guest bring crowd to its feet Violinist Philippe Quint highlights lively concert

Rarely is the audience of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra drawn to its feet for a standing ovation. Even more rarely is it so captivated by a soloist that it demands an encore. Sunday afternoon’s concert at Peakes Auditorium, however, accomplished both those feats, in a riveting performance of Edouard Lalo’s “Symphonie Espagnole,” featuring guest violinist Philippe Quint.

The “Symphonie” is a talkative, lively piece, all quick hints at ideas that play upon one another, and build throughout the four movements until the dazzling finale. Maestro Xiao-Lu Li kept the mood light and bright, enunciating each distinct part of each movement as if he was polishing individual facets of a diamond.

Quint, with his shock of brown hair and crimson-colored cloth beneath his chin, was visually arresting, passionate and technically flawless. He tore through the “Symphonie” with a distinctive, personal kind of phrasing seen more commonly in a jazz musician – and the BSO, in top form, matched that phrasing perfectly.

Quint’s spine-tingling trills and melismatic melodic runs left more than one audience member spellbound. I saw two boys in the row in front of me playing air violin, mimicking Quint’s lightning-fast finger work. It was only appropriate that the crowd honored him and the BSO with an ovation, which Quint responded to with a zippy, humorous performance of Paganini’s introduction, theme and variations from Paisiello’s “La bella molinara” (Nel cor piu non mi sento) in G major, which featured the musician managing to pluck and bow at the same time. He had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand by the time he was done.

As if the “Symphonie” wasn’t enough of a workout, the BSO followed it up with a performance of Cesar Franck’s “Symphony in D minor,” which, as Maestro Li noted, “not many orchestras have the guts to play.” Li offered up words such as “nature,” “conversation,” and even “volcano” as guidelines on how to think about the piece. I would add words such as “evocative,” “ecstatic,” “sensual” and “electric” to that list – especially during the pizzicato opening part of the allegretto second movement.

Special credit must be given to the entire cello section, and to harpist Molly Hahn, for creating an atmosphere that was both mysterious and playful. This concert was by far the best of an already stellar season for the BSO.