United States Various: Stefan Jackiw (violin), Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra / Gemma New (conductor). Heinz Hall, Pittsburgh, 29.5.2026. (SJ)
Salina Fisher – Rainphase
Korngold – Violin Concerto in D major, Op.35
Encore: Bach – Largo from Violin Sonata No.3 in C major, BWV1005
Rimsky-Korsakov – Sheherazade, Op.35
Post-concert performance: Schubert – String Trio in B-flat major, D471
This weekend at the Pittsburgh Symphony saw the debut of New Zealand-born conductor Gemma New. Her strong showing followed a string of notable PSO podium debuts this season, a lineup that has included Dalia Stasevska and Edward Gardner. New’s program spanned works from each of the last three centuries, bound together by their particularly vibrant use of orchestral color.
New opened with the 2015 piece Rainphase by her New Zealand compatriot Salina Fisher. Inspired by the rain and wind of Wellington, it employed a vast use of extended techniques to capture these distinctive meteorological patterns in musical terms. I almost felt like I was listening to a ‘sounds of the rainforest’ recording, yet all the sounds were drawn from the orchestra. Imitations of birdcalls further transported the Heinz Hall audience across the globe, and the music shimmered in its luminous, reflective textures.
Korngold’s Violin Concerto in D major featured the charismatic Stefan Jackiw. Several of the concerto’s themes were repurposed from the composer’s film scores and, from its lovingly lyrical beginnings, one was taken to a bygone golden age of the silver screen. Jackiw offered a balance of arching lyricism and coruscating virtuosity. The central Romance was serene and poetic, tinged with nostalgia. Here, the violinist employed a carefully judged rubato to produce a tone lush but without excess. In the finale, it was off to the races, a rambunctious movement of rapid fingerwork and infectious rhythmic swagger. As an antidote to the concerto’s swashbuckling close, Jackiw encored with the Largo from Bach’s C major sonata, radiant in its simplicity.
The program was rounded off by another example of masterful orchestration in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sheherazade. Muscular brass began, melting away into gentler winds and extensive solo passages by concertmaster David McCarroll. McCarroll was an intoxicating storyteller, gracefully spinning a yarn with rhapsodic flexibility. In the climactic moments for which the full orchestra was rallied, one could feel the rocking waves at sea. Yet at times, those climactic fortes tipped toward harshness.
In ‘The Story of the Kalendar Prince’, long and winding solo passages for bassoon (Julia Harguindey) and clarinet (Victoria Luperi) were deftly shaped. Languid and with dusky resonance, ‘The Young Prince and the Young Princess’ was punctuated by glittering flourishes from the principal winds. And in the closing ‘Festival at Baghdad’, the festival that New and the PSO painted was a richly colorful one. Rousing snares and other orchestral effects gave it a cinematic quality long before the advent of film. A grandiose return to the sea was marked by steely playing before the work closed in peaceful resignation.
In a brief post-concert performance, PSO string players Kelsey Blumenthal (violin), Sean Juhl (viola) and Karissa Shivone (cello) offered Schubert’s String Trio in B-flat major, D471. Though the composer only completed a single movement, it is an attractive piece that made for an elegant close to vibrant evening.
Sam Jacobson