Concert Review: Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra

JSO Proceeding Backwards Jerusalem Theater January 7 The program was constructed in reverse chronological order at the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra's Subscription Concert No. 3, conducted by Leon Botstein: From the 20th century's modernists - Stravinsky and Hindemith - it worked its way backward to the mainstream classics, Mozart and Tchaikovsky. In his Horn Concerto, Hindemith displays his talent in composing unsingable melodies. This, very unpredictability, is what makes them so attractive. American hornist Jeffrey Lang, after devotedly following Hindemith's whims, then demonstrated his remarkable capacity of singing on the horn in Mozart's melody-happy Horn Concerto No. 1. Stravinsky's Violin Concerto sounds rhythmically jumpy in its first movement, then surprises with a quite un-Stravinsky-like nostalgic, lyric slow movement, and concludes with a good-humored, witty, exceptionally unsarcastic final one. The JSO's very own violinist Elina Yanovitsky conveyed the work's characteristics altogether convincingly, and braved its formidable technical hurdles with ease and proficiency. Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony was the grandiose conclusion. The orchestra displayed a full, rich sound, though not always perfectly balanced. When the brass was blaring, the strings might as well have taken a rest - they were visible, but barely audible.