Published Saturday, August 4, 2001

Predictable MusicFest gets a lift from soloist

Michael Anthony / Star Tribune

The Minnesota Orchestra's MusicFest, which is wrapping up at Orchestra Hallthis weekend, has turned out to be not all that much different -- at leastnot in ambience and repertoire -- from its predecessor, Sommerfest, whichthe orchestra had been presenting annually since 1980.One change that has engendered a certain amount of grousing has to do with the final weekend. In Sommerfest days, the finale was an opera, whichallowed the festival to conclude with an element of pizazz. With MusicFest,however, it's simply a pair of concerts -- business as usual.On the other hand, it could be noted that, even though Friday's concertobserved a standard format, the guest soloist, the Siberian baritone DmitriHvorostovsky, brings a touch of the theatrical with him whenever he sings.Though recitals and concerts with orchestra seem to be Hvorostovsky'sfavored medium, his operatic repertoire continues to expand (he will singseveral arias in his program today), and, of course, his matinee-idol looksdon't hurt, either.It was clear Friday night, especially to anyone who has followed thissinger's career since his first appearances in this country in the early'90s, how much Hvorostovsky has grown, in artistic terms, during the pastdecade. As is the case with many baritones, he only achieved full command ofhis voice in his mid-30s. He was born in 1962. His sound is rich and fullall the way to the top, even when he's singing softly, as he did soimpressively at the end of the first two songs in Ravel's "Don Quixote toDulcinea." Moreover, his handling of the French text was suave and nicelypointed.Earlier in the evening he sang an impressive account of Mahler's "Songs of aWayfarer," bringing, in addition to smooth phrasing, just the right tone ofaching resignation to these reflections of a man's heartbreak over a lostlove. And the evening's conductor, Andrew Litton, proved an able andsympathetic collaborator in both cycles.Litton, who is the music director of the Dallas Symphony, opened with aquick and bracing reading of the Overture to Glinka's "Ruslan and Ludmila,"which suffered from a few scrappy passages in the woodwinds. ConcertmasterJorja Fleezanis played the lovely solo violin line in Rachmaninoff'sfamiliar "Vocalise," and, after intermission, took the similarly importantsolos -- in eloquent fashion -- in Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade."Litton's pacing of the first movement dragged a bit, but the ensuingepisodes carried ample energy and theatricality, along with more fine soloplaying from horn player Michael Gast, among several others

.-- Michael Anthony

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