Cellist had audience at first note

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This article was published 01/03/2012 (5289 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

YOU could say international rising-star cellist Asier Polo had us at the first stroke of his graceful bow.

The critically acclaimed artist made his Canadian debut Tuesday night as Manitoba Chamber Orchestra offered an eclectic program led by MCO music director/conductor Anne Manson. Manson first heard the cellist perform in Galicia, Spain, two years ago and vowed to bring him to the city at the first opportunity.

Born in Bilbao, Spain, the age-defying Polo has been hailed as one of the leading cellists of his generation. His only other North American appearance to date has been at New York City’s fabled Carnegie Hall. He performs on a golden 1689 Francesco Rugieri cello — a star in itself. But more than that, Polo is the type of charismatic player who ignites the imagination with a fierce artistry and utter surrender to music making.

Striding confidently onstage, the soloist immediately engaged with Luigi Boccherini’s Cello Concerto No. 2 in D Major, G. 479, a light-hearted confection that brims with sunny optimism. The first movement, allegro, showcased Polo’s honeyed tone, with his light touch easily executing the trills and quicksilver runs. His cello sang like an eloquent opera singer during the adagio before he displayed his bravura technique in folksy peasant-dance finale allegro.

The second half also included Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 1 in C Major, H. VIIB:1. Polo skilfully projected every shade of expression, from playful to serious, and reflective to triumphant during the three-movement work, with his spirited cadenza a particularly heart-racing highlight.

As expected, the loudly cheering audience of 675 leapt to their feet, resulting in two encores for the night: J.S. Bach’s Cello Suite No.2 in D minor: Prélude and Spanish composer/cellist Gaspar Cassadó’s rhapsodic Fantasy Prelude from Suite for Cello Solo.

The concert also included the world premiere of MCO composer-in-residence Serge Arcuri’s Ties, which explores “multiple meaning of strings” as well as emotional bonds. As such, the one-movement work is pensive, beginning with plucked strings that quickly grow into crests of sound.

The Montreal-based composer establishes his own sound world, underscored by close harmonies and rich dramatic gesture. This is also an ominous landscape that holds its own kind of foreboding, but its many weighty pauses only serve to dissipate any sense of cohesion otherwise created.

His L’Hiver (Winter), inspired by Vivaldi’s iconic The Four Seasons, fared better. The short work, composed in 2006, teems with the same raw energy as the baroque master’s masterful violin concerti which, in Arcuri’s hands, splinters into rhythmic and harmonic patterns as intricate as a snowflake. Kudos to MCO concertmaster Karl Stobbe, whose intense delivery as soloist brought idiomatic flair to this intriguing piece.

holly.harris@shaw.ca

CONCERT REVIEW

Manitoba Chamber Orchestra

Feb. 28

Westminster United Church

Attendance: 675

4 stars out of 5