The Depth of the Slavic Soul
Guest cellist, Robert deMaine
The CHARLESTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ended this season’s Masterworks series last Thursday in Gaillard Auditorium with an energizing and emotionally uplifting “Slavic Soul” concert.
Featuring Czech composer Antonin Dvorak’s Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104 (1895) and Russian Pytor Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 36 (1876-77), the orchestra demonstrated how noble and opulent these romantic-era war-horses can sound, particularly with a remarkably talented cello soloist like Robert deMaine and an inspired conductor such as Bohuslav Rattay.
There is really no cello concerto greater than Dvorak’s—written while he was in America—despite earlier efforts by Vivaldi, Haydn, and Schumann, and later ones by Prokofiev and Ibert.
An American, deMaine communicated Dvorak’s idyllic yet heroic music with depth of feeling and instinctive understanding. His playing was beyond reproach, merging technical accomplishment with passion, tenderness, and sheer brilliance. No wonder he is a chamber-music specialist, composer, teacher, and the principal cellist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
Our orchestra played beautifully with Rattay, himself Czech, proving a vigorous and savvy collaborator.
Guest conductor Bohuslav Rattay
British conductor Sir Thomas Beecham once quipped that Tchaikovsky wrote three great symphonies, curiously numbered four, five, and six. And Rattay is certainly the man for the Tchaikovsky’s fourth. His animated podium style encouraged the orchestra and the audience to follow his excited, fiery, and always lively leadership as he conducted without a score.
While the orchestra did not play impeccably, they did play with style, intensity, even fury, displaying a robust solidity. Both works generated standing ovations.
From my vantage point, the solo cellist seemed to be smothered at times by the orchestra, yet I am told that if you sat in the mezzanine, you heard every note he played. On the other hand, the winds were more prominent than usual from where I was sitting. Go figure.
