Oregon Music News

He may only be 18 years old, but Fred Lu showed that he has the chops to handle Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto (aka “Emperor”). Because Lu, a senior at Skyview High School in Vancouver, Washington, won the Portland Youth Philharmonic’s concerto competition, he was given the opportunity to play a concerto with the orchestra. So, on Saturday evening (November 12th) at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, Lu made the most of it, delivering an outstanding performance with the PYP under the baton its music director, David Hattner.

Lu played the Beethoven with authority and finesse. His agility and expert technique were real assets, especially during the numerous arpeggios that seemed to touch every note on the keyboard. Lu also conveyed the legato lines in the piece with a flowing sense of warmth and color. The orchestra, kept in check by Hattner, accompanied Lu with a terrific sense of artistic partnership, so that he could always be heard. This included making several spot-on transitions in tempo with Lu.

The piece ended triumphantly, and Lu, with a big smile, accepted the bravos and the many bouquets graciously. Somehow, he even managed to pluck two blooms from a bouquet and give them to concertmaster Siess and assistant concertmaster Angela Tang. That was a wonderful touch that added a sense of occasion to the evening.

The orchestra set high marks for itself with a vivid performance of Malcolm Arnold’s “Four Scottish Dances.” The French horns filled the first dance with wild and boisterous energy. In the second dance, the sound from the bassoons wonderfully evoked the staggering motion of a drunken dancer. The wistful and almost misty melody of the third dance was delivered with grace by principal flutist Nicholas Grasley and principal oboist Erin Ohashi. The robust brass section rocked out in the fourth dance, giving it the loud, brash, and rustic quality that it needed to close out the piece and floor the audience.

Playing with great sensitivity and expression, the orchestra also excelled with the folk-imbued sounds of George Butterworth’s “The Banks of the Green Willow.” The woodwinds and the strings deftly conveyed the sadness and the haunting beauty of this piece, which borders on a tone poem. Ohashi, Grasley, and principal clarinetist Isabel Skau excelled in their solo passages, as did concertmaster Michael Siess.

The concert concluded with a superb performance of Edward Elgar’s “Enigma Variations.” Highlights included crescendos and decrescendos that were finely honed but not over-calculated, fleet fingerwork by the strings, a terrific zing at the end of the fourth variation, excellent solos from the principal violist Lauren Siess, principal horn Antonia Chandler, principal cellist Megan Yip, principal bassoonist Kyle Olsen, Skau, and principal percussionist Alexander Schaffer on the timpani. Hattner’s directions shaped the piece marvelously, making sure that it didn’t drip with sentimentality nor become an aloof, intellectual exploration. The music resonated with the audience, which responded with sustained applause and enthusiastic bravos.