Review- MSO’s All Saint-Saens Program

 Simon Trpceski is just 31 years old, but he plays piano with the seasoned technique and intelligence of someone twice his age. Playing Camille Saint-Saens’ Second Piano ConcertO with the this weekend, he was a perfect channel for a composer who often seems stranded between two worlds.
A devoted classicist, Saint-Saens loved clear structures and forms. But he was also a devotee of Liszt who constantly tried to expand the palette of the orchestra. Trpceski masters the tone of the piano in a way that Saint-Saens would adore. He can caress a melody into a flute-like breathiness, or let a counter-phrase pierce through the ensemble like an oboe or soli violin. Or, when the time is right, his double octave runs can thunder right up alongside an orchestra going full-tilt.
Conductor Edo de Waart brought lots of color to Saint-Saens’ “Organ” Symphony as well. It’s performed often here—to showcase, no doubt, the mighty Uihlein Hall organ. De Waart shaped the symphony beautifully, even if the orchestra was less-than limber in navigating the tricky six-eight syncopations. During Friday’s daytime performance, de Waart legitimately scolded the audience for unfettered coughing, which was marring the whisper quiet passages of the symphony. But he immediately launched into the finale’s fugue and chorale with terrific energy, rounding out the majesty of the symphony in the final cadence.
In the opening performance of Saint-Saens’ “Danse Macabre,” concertmaster Frank Almond got a chance to dig into the more raffish tones of his instrument in the pieces well-known solo passages.