Delaware Symphony Orchestra’s emotional program brings whoops of approval – Concert builds to wall of sound

By BETSY PRICE • The News Journal • October 2, 2010

Bet you can’t sleep through tonight’s Delaware Symphony Orchestra concert.

You might be lured into thinking you could by the opener, John Adams‘ “Tromba Lontana,” a lyrical four-minute piece, but by the time you get to Adams’ maniacal “Short Ride in a Fast Machine,” you will know there’s no shortcut to the Land of Nod.

Pianist Jon Kimura Parker will then turn in a tour de force rendition of Samuel Barber’s “Concerto fo Piano and Orchestra, op. 38.” On Friday night, It brought whoops of approval — and the audience to its feet. They applauded so long and so loud that he returned to perform again.

“I’d like to play the quietest thing I know,” he told the audience, drawing a big laugh. It was “Solace” by Scott Joplin, another “great American composer,” as was Barber, who hailed from nearby West Chester, Pa.

The second act opens with Barber’s “Adagio for Strings,” a piece of music familiar to anyone who’s seen a state funeral or watched death scenes in movies or television in the last four decades. The piece, which maestro David Amado restored to Barber’s recommended running time of eight minutes, felt more like a loving lament than the usual inconsolable farewell.

The concert ended with a blast: Respighi’s “Pines of Rome,” which built through four movements into a wall of sound, drawing more whoops of approval.