PSO360 series wraps with violinist Hadelich

Unlike many other major concert halls, Heinz Hall doesn’t have a smaller chamber music hall for recitals and more intimate concerts.

As a way to mitigate this, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra this season debuted a new concert format, PSO360, where the audience sits in a ring around the performers onstage. On Saturday, the soloist for the weekend, violinist Augustin Hadelich, delivered a masterful recital alongside musicians from the PSO for the final 360

concert this season.

The ensemble faced one direction for the first half of the concert and turned around for the second. The reverb from the empty hall caused a slight echo, but this wasn’t distracting — hearing Heinz from a musician’s perspective was delightful. It really is quite a good hall.

Mr. Hadelich played music by Stravinsky (with pianist Rodrigo Ojeda), Paganini, Francisco Coll and Eugene Ysaye. He curated a program centered on “violin virtuosity,” and he delivered accordingly. His Paganini interpretation is surely one of the best in the world today, and his performance of Mr. Coll’s (b. 1985) music added a contemporary tinge to the program; the orchestra’s main series programs could use more of this.

What makes Mr. Hadelich’s playing so incredible? Flawless technique and attention to detail. You immediately hear that he knows and understands every note’s relation not only to the next note but also to the piece as a whole. Listening to Mr. Hadelich is an artistic experience not unlike viewing a Botticelli, brilliant and creative in the individual brushstrokes, but utterly breathtaking as a whole.

A small string orchestra opened the concert with Rossini’s Sonata No. 3 in C major, guest concertmaster Robyn Bollinger leading with her violin. These concerts are a chance to hear the PSO up close and personal, and the musicians didn’t disappoint. Mr. Hadelich and the PSO musicians closed with Haydn’s Concerto No. 1, the soloist pushing the tempo and playing just ahead of his colleagues at times (this happened during Friday night’s concert with the full orchestra as well) for an exciting if not completely precise finish.

PSO360 returns next season with five featured soloists on five separate evenings throughout the year. Tickets are limited and will vanish quickly. Classical series individual tickets are on sale in July.