By Nancy Plum

It is not easy to find a connection among composers from Mexico, Austria and Russia, but New Jersey Symphony brought these three cultures together this past weekend with its opening concert of the 2024-25 Princeton series. Led by Music Director Xian Zhang, the Symphony successfully wound a musical thread through the works of contemporary Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz, 18th-century Austrian Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and 19th-century Russian Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

The key to the three pieces performed Friday night in Richardson Auditorium seemed to be the composers’ use of winds for innovative orchestral color. In Ortiz’s Kauyumari, wind solos reflected the diverse musical influences which surrounded Ortiz in her native Mexico. The one-movement Kauyumari, commissioned in 2021 by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, depicts the ancient “blue deer” rite of Mexico which allows the Huichol people to communicate with ancestors and reaffirm their role as guardians of the planet. Channeling the sounds of Latin America into a classical work, Ortiz created a piece to capture both the blue deer, with its power to “enter the world of the intangible,” and the reopening of live music following the pandemic. 

A very crowded stage of instruments hinted that Kauyumari would be filled with distinct orchestral effects, and this was indeed the case. Zhang and the Symphony began the music mysteriously, with a subtle fanfare traveling through the brass section. Lyrical piccolo lines played by Kathleen Nester soared above a strong ostinato in the lower strings, and the traditional Huichol melody played by oboist Robert Ingliss well complemented the instrumental palette. Zhang kept rhythms precise, guiding the players through extended passages of mixed meter to complex but controlled density. Ortiz’s appealing music drew to a close with a vibrant melody in the brass under clean flute lines. 

As rich as the orchestration was for the Ortiz work, the ensemble was lean and concise for Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 17 in G Major. In this three-movement piece, the soloist might be the primary focus of audience attention, but the Concerto was unusual in its prominent scoring for woodwinds. Wind instrumentalists up to that time tended to have minor roles in Mozart’s music, especially in Salzburg, where players were not as accomplished as in Vienna, but in this Concerto, wind solos abounded. 

For Friday’s performance, the Symphony brought a longtime friend of the ensemble, pianist Inon Barnatan, as soloist. A seasoned artist, Barnatan showed a solid command of Mozart style and Viennese elegance throughout the performance. Zhang and the orchestra began the opening movement with a graceful lilt to the music, complemented by subtle passages from a single flute plus pairs of oboes, bassoons, and horns. Barnatan began the keyboard solo lines with refinement, demonstrating crisp and decisive fingering with agile ornamentation. He effectively took his time in the cadenzas to the movements, as if entertaining friends with an intimate piano solo. 

Zhang found a courtly tempo to the second movement “Andante,” aided by solos from oboist Robert Ingliss, flutist Bart Feller, and bassoonist Robert Wagner. Mozart’s writing for this instrumental trio suggested the vocal lyricism of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, which appeared two years after this Concerto. Both New Jersey Symphony and Barnatan made full use of Mozart’s dramatic pauses, including in the closing cadenza.

The third movement “Allegretto” foreshadowed the chipper and light-hearted character of The Magic Flute. Innovative in its structure as variations on a simple theme, this movement provided Barnatan the opportunity to execute nimble playing with a bit of humor. One variation for winds alone was particularly elegant, and a pair of horns made its presence cleanly known in the closing measures. 

In Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, winds portrayed characters in an orchestral depiction of 1001 Tales of Arabian Nights. With the lead narrator represented by solo violin, New Jersey Symphony concertmaster Eric Wyrick captured the sultry voice of the Sultana with supple violin playing, often accompanied by harpist Tomina Parvanova Lyden. Wyrick’s violin sound was rich in the lower register, and no matter where the music traveled during the work’s four movements, the orchestral palette often returned to solo violin and harp to convey the next phase of the story. Soloists flutist Feller, oboist Ingliss, bassoonist Wagner and hornist Chris Komer contributed exotic themes to the texture, with lyrical solo passages from cellist Jonathan Spitz. Conductor Zhang was consistently energetic on the podium, bringing out dynamic contrasts and drawing out the drama of the story well. Returning one final time to solo violin and harp, Rimsky-Korsakov’s programmatic work ended peacefully and poignantly. 

New Jersey Symphony will present its next Princeton performance on Friday, December 20 and Saturday, December 21 at 8 p.m. in Richardson Auditorium. Conducted by Jeannette Sorrell, this concert will feature George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah” with vocal soloists and the Montclair State University Singers. Ticket information can be obtained by visiting njsymphony.org.