Dinur brings passion to Shostakovich

Sometimes, context is everything. Milwaukee Symphony Associate Conductor Yaniv Dinur took a moment before conducting Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 12 on Friday evening to share his own affection and enthusiasm for the piece.

The symphony, which was completed in 1961 and subtitled “The Year 1917” to memorialize the Russian Revolution, is seldom heard and has never before been performed by the MSO. Dinur’s brief comments gave the audience a glimpse of his feelings about the piece, which he proceeded to conduct from memory, and helped win the performance an enthusiastic ovation.

Dinur and the orchestra captured the narrative flow of the programmatic piece in a completely committed performance. They moved from long, quiet, introspective sections of heartfelt music-making, to equally lengthy, deeply stirring sections of big, bold — sometimes stunningly so — sound, giving the symphony shape, meaning and a mesmerizing performance.

Vadim Gluzman joined the orchestra for a vibrant, brilliantly executed performance of the Tchaikovsky Concerto in D major for Violin and Orchestra.

Gluzman played with a big, resonant, colorful sound, bringing exquisite musical and sonic details. He delivered delicate harmonics, fiery technical passages and beautifully sculpted phrases, all folded seamlessly into a tremendously expressive performance.

His pristine playing, boundless energy and unabashed passion won a standing ovation, which he answered with a marvelously eloquent, beautifully ornamented and rendered encore of the Gavotte from Bach’s Violin Partita No. 3 in E Major.

Dinur, who hails from Jerusalem, opened the program by leading the orchestra through Menachem Wiesenberg’s “Jerusalem,” for symphony orchestra. They gave a single-movement work a haunting performance full of history, grace and gravitas.