By Nancy Plum

In a concert linking the crispness of winter to a hint of spring, New Jersey Symphony performed works of Claude Debussy, Nico Muhly, and Sergei Rachmaninoff, showing the depth of both player and conducting talent. The Symphony divided the conducting responsibilities in Friday night’s performance at Richardson Auditorium between Music Director Xian Zhang and the Symphony’s Colton Conducting Fellow Gregory D. McDaniel. A Houston native, McDaniel has conducted opera companies and orchestras nationwide, as well as in Canada.

McDaniel directed the first half of the program, leading off with André Caplet’s orchestral arrangement of Claude Debussy’s popular Clair de Lune for piano. Originally a movement in a piano suite, Clair de Lune became one of the composer’s most recognized pieces, leading to numerous arrangements, including at least six for orchestra. McDaniel began Debussy’s familiar music languidly, with a dreamy flow from the strings topped off by delicate flute passages from Bart Feller and Kathleen Nester. McDaniel built the sound well, always knowing exactly where he was going. The overall effect was lush, sustained by a subtle pair of horns.

McDaniel continued to command the podium for the New Jersey premiere of American composer Nico Muhly’s Sounding for Piano and Orchestra, a co-commission between the New Jersey and Vermont Symphonies. One of this country’s most high-regarded composers, Muhly turned to fellow Vermonter and pianist Adam Tendler to premiere this five-movement work incorporating late 18th-century American tunes from composer, horse breeder and politician Justin Morgan. The melodies embedded in Sounding were both Protestant hymns originally composed for a cappella chorus and “fuguing” tunes, in which all voices begin together and then break off into their own parts.

The opening “Amanda” was based on a melody honoring the memory of Justin Morgan’s wife. Pianist Tendler proved to be a very unassuming and compelling soloist, joining the orchestra in very decisive chords contrasted by a three-way conversation between solo bassoon, oboe, and keyboard as McDaniel maintained a graceful triple meter. Sounding changed moods frequently as the movements streamed one into another, with the piano lines in particular conveying a variety of characters. Flutist Feller and oboist Alexandra Knoll were often paired together, and the strings consistently expressed an open and very New England feeling. The original hymn texts were quite reverent, which Muhly captured with simple harmonies and chorale-like writing for the piano soloist. Especially in the closing “Sounding Joy” and coda, McDaniel brought out punctuating accents, effectively returning to a refined wind palette to close.

New Jersey Symphony Music Director Zhang took the podium for Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 in E minor. The success of Rachmaninoff’s Op. 18 piano concerto significantly boosted the composer’s confidence and made him a celebrity, with his reputation further cemented by the “orchestral masterpiece” of this Symphony. The first movement “Largo” was announced by cellos and double basses, as Andrew Adelson’s English horn melody of sadness rose from the texture. As played by New Jersey Symphony, this work was Russian Romantic music at its best. Zhang maintained a dramatic ebb and flow, with the richness of the violins contrasted by gentle wind playing. The cinematic second movement “Allegro” displayed a clean yet busy instrumental sound, with a martial flair added by a crisp trio of trumpets. Zhang and the ensemble handled rhythmic shifts well, with the closing notes of each movement accentuated.

Rachmaninoff’s great melodies often have found their way into popular and film music, and clarinetist Juan Esteban Martinez expressively brought out one of these classic lines in the third movement against a cinematic backdrop. Oboist Knoll played a second equally as lavish melody, as Zhang drew out the intensity and passion. The fourth movement’s carnival-like atmosphere closed the towering Symphony with verve, as smooth transitions led to a clean ending marked by dynamic contrasts within a 19th-century musical frenzy.

New Jersey Symphony will present the final concert of its 2024-25 Princeton series on Friday, May 16 at 8 p.m. at Richardson Auditorium. Conducted by Music Director Xian Zhang, this performance will feature music of Mozart, Bach, and Michael Abels. Ticket information can be obtained by njsymphony.org.