WSO show spotlights Canadian stars Cellist, soprano dazzle in program of Schumann, Mahler By: Holly Harris Posted: 4:37 PM CDT Sunday, Mar. 16, 2025

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This article was published 16/03/2025 (237 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra showcased two of Canada’s brightest classical stars as it offered the penultimate concert in its Saturday Classics series, Mahler and Schumann.

Saturday night’s program led by Daniel Raiskin featured a pair of works by Schumann and Mahler, as well as a high-spirited opener, Oskar Morawetz’s Carnival Overture, which kicked things off with a bang.

In his sophomore appearance with the WSO, internationally acclaimed Canadian cellist Bryan Cheng treated (exactly) 1,600 listeners to his rendition of Schumann’s Concerto in A minor for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 129.

The famously enigmatic “Konzertstück” unfolds as three inter-connected movements intended to thwart mid-performance applause, which was abhorred by the composer, while also calling more for the soloist to express, rather than merely impress, as with typically flashier concerti.

However in this case, the Berlin-based artist succeeded on both counts, taking the stage with a kilowatt smile and his gleaming, 1699 “Dubois” Stradivarius cello in hand before launching into the opening Nicht zu schnell.

His rapport with Raiskin palpable, the cellist immediately inhabited Schumann’s idiosyncratic soundworld teeming with mercurial shifts of mood and timbre, with his gorgeous singing tone and innate lyricism bringing to life each of his artfully shaped phrases.

A particular highlight was the central movement, Langsam, including double stops and a brief duet with principal cellist Yuri Hooker (currently on a one-year sabbatical leave with guest appearances throughout the season), before Cheng embarked on the finale, Sehr lebhaft.

Here he nimbly tossed off playful runs and attacked his rhythmic accents like a tiger, ultimately leading to an accompanied cadenza, with the maestro’s sensitive direction matching him note for note throughout the estimated 24-minute performance.

In response to a rousing standing and demand for three curtain calls, Cheng charmingly asked the crowd, “You know the cello can sing, but did you know it can groove?” before doing just that with his encore of Grammy-winning American composer/cellist Mark Summer’s effervescent Julie-O (1988). (Fun fact: Summer played three seasons with the WSO during the 1980s, and regularly gigged at Winnipeg’s Blue Note Café.)

The soloist’s blistering delivery of the bluegrass-flavoured showstopper further underscored his versatility, as he enthralled the crowd with extended instrumental techniques including left-hand pizzicati, “ghost” bowing, plenty of ponticello effects and strumming his cello strings with the zeal of a banjo player, earning a second ovation.

The entire second half was composed of Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 in G major, featuring one of Canada’s most beloved singing actresses, Winnipeg soprano Lara Ciekiewicz.

After patiently waiting onstage for Sehr behaglich, the final movement that caps the nearly one-hour work, the deeply expressive artist took listeners on a transcendent journey to paradise, as she sang with childlike wonder of “heavenly pleasures” and the joy to come in the sweet hereafter. Her crystal-clear vocals and spot-on diction conveyed the poem Das himmlische Leben’s German text.

Another highlight was the second movement’s macabre scherzo, In gemächlicher Bewegung, ohne Hast, which saw concertmaster Gwen Hoebig switching out her regular violin for an unusually tuned scordatura fiddle to bring sharper edges to her “devil’s dance” solo passages.

Kudos also to principal horn Patricia Evans for her exposed “horn calls” that introduce the section’s prelude.

Despite a surprisingly sluggish Bedächtig, nicht eilen, which launches with the composer’s trademark sleigh bells (these were laid-back horses seemingly more ready for pasture than the troika), the opening movement eventually settled and found its own pace.

Last but not least is the third movement, Ruhevoll, poco adagio, a lusciously lyrical set of double themes and variations in which Raiskin initially lay down his baton to sculpt sound with both hands, sensitively navigating the cello section’s melodic ebbs and flows. This created a still point of beauty that ultimately led to a rafter-raising climax fuelled by heart-pounding timpani strikes.

We don’t hear Mahler, with its demands for massive-scale resources, on this stage nearly enough. His relatively compact fourth symphony is more accessible for both audiences and orchestra alike — and as expected, the audience leaped to its feet once again at the end, transported from the devil’s earlier diabolical clutches to the gates of heaven itself.

holly.harris@shaw.ca