Sterling Elliott makes welcome return with Orlando Philharmonic | Review
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Cellist Sterling Elliott joined the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra Saturday night for an otherworldly world premiere of a work arranged especially for him.
Elliott, whose cello playing has earned him the Avery Fisher Career Grant, was making a return visit after an appearance in February 2022. This time, he brought with him composer John Corigliano, who arranged the “Phantasmagoria” Suite, taken from his opera “The Ghosts of Versailles.”
Corigliano’s opera, which premiered in 1991, is described as opera buffa, but there was nothing funny about the playing on display in Steinmetz Hall. The Philharmonic commissioned the arrangement, which gave a taste of the opera — concerning ghosts and Marie Antoinette — and showcased Elliott’s skill.
The opening segment pulled out all the stops in setting up the otherworldly atmosphere — desultory snippets of flute, tinkling bells, stray piano notes. But it was Elliott, whose instrument takes on some of the opera’s vocal parts, who held it all together. His melodic lines put the reality in this unreal musical world.
Things heated up in the piece, with Elliott adding his own percussive effects among the plaintive notes, and just when you thought it might all fly apart, everything beautifully coalesced in a shimmering finale.
Ravel’s “La valse,” which opened the program, had a similar dreamlike start. Conductor Eric Jacobsen described the work as “the most fantastic party scene ever” and then carefully controlled the dynamics so it felt as if the audience was slowly approaching a ballroom until — bam! — the doors were flung open.
Jacobsen himself seemed to be dancing around his dais as he led the musicians through graceful passages, interrupted by the occasional raucous interludes — there are always a few who’ve spent too much time at the punchbowl.
The second half of the program brought Rachmaninoff’s “Symphonic Dances,” in which Jacobsen deftly moved the musicians from dramatic to languid. Associate Concertmaster Annabelle Gardiner, subbing in the first chair for absent Rimma Bergeron-Langlois, put pleasing warmth in her solo to start off the second movement, leading into orchestral phrases dripping with elegance.
The third movement also carried the correct sense of grandeur, with the addition of percussive flourishes leading up to that in-your-face conclusion.
Special note must be made of two surprise encores: Elliott joined with principal harpist Haley Rhodeside for a charming duet of Saint-Saëns’ “The Swan.” In its blissful simplicity, with Steinmetz’s acoustics meaning every plucked or bowed string could be heard, the piece went straight to the soul.
Completely different in tone, as if the final bombastic notes of the “Symphonic Dances” weren’t enough, Jacobsen put the orchestra through its paces with a fiery rendition of Brahms’ crowd-favorite “Hungarian Dance No. 5.” A starry night ended with thrilling fireworks.
♦ This program repeats at 3:30 p.m. Jan. 14.
Next from the Philharmonic
What: ‘Prohibition,’ a Pops concert saluting the music of the Roaring ’20s with accompanying video and other imagery. Chelsea Gallo directs.
When: Jan. 20, with performances at 3:30 and 7:30 p.m.
Where: Steinmetz Hall at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, 445 S. Magnolia Ave. in Orlando
Cost: $46.54 and up
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