Drama, sensitivity, softness and strength all blended in a stellar harmonic performance by the Princeton University Orchestra under the talented direction of guest conductor Hobart Earle.
Earle, Class of 1983, has served for the past 19 years as music director and principal conductor of the Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra. He brought the Ukranian orchestra to a position of international prominence unprecented in the history of the Odessa Philharmonic with performances circling the globe.
Last Friday's performance featured three beautifully performed works: Edvard Grieg's Music from Peer Gynt, Opus 23 (1875), Erik Satie's sublime Gymnopedies (1888) in the orchestral version by Claude Debussy (1897), and Johannes Brahms' Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Opus 90 (1993).
Earle led the orchestra with grace, energy and generosity, recognizing solos, and the orchestra responded in turn to his energy and grace, rewarding the audience with dramatic notes of heaviness, lilting and crisp dance notes, and notes as soft as springtime breezes in Satie's Gymnopedies.
When the concert was over, the orchestra received a standing ovation, and Earle returned to the podium, but first he turned to the audience.
''What do you play after a Brahm's?'' the maestro asked. ''There is no good answer.''
For an encore, the lovely piece was repeated.
Richardson Auditorium with its medieval stage paintings and rich woods provided a warm setting for enjoying the evening's performance, and a second performance followed on Saturday evening.
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