Philharmonic strikes difficult balance

Guest conductor James Feddeck adeptly led Saturday evening's Oklahoma City Philharmonic program of two Romantic staples, Schubert's “Great” Symphony in C Major, D. 944, and Rachmaninoff's beloved second Piano Concerto in C minor.

Schubert's “Great” Symphony has been described as having “heavenly length.” Feddeck's wonderfully nuanced interpretation lived up to this idea in a good way; it was extremely well-paced, and well-executed—neither frantic nor languid, which can be a difficult balance to strike.

The highlight of this performance was the beautiful solo and chamber-music moments in the winds and brass. The orchestra truly seems to be finding its bearings, and with it, a newfound sense of security and confidence.

At the second half, pianist Stewart Goodyear received a thunderous ovation for his intense and stunningly precise performance of the concerto.

However, the performance unfortunately suffered some severe balance issues, with the orchestra completely burying him into inaudibility for a good portion of the first movement.

Additionally, Goodyear's aggressive, often harsh sound quality actually seemed to yield diminishing returns in volume. With visible and audible tension in his body, his steely tone lacked warmth, and his phrasing occasionally lacked breadth, for my taste.

The performance surely had energy but almost uncomfortably so, as though he were holding his breath while sprinting to the finish. “Rach 2”, arguably one of the most sublimely lush Romantic works of the repertoire, was simply not the best fit for Goodyear's style of playing. His encore, on the other hand, was absolutely lovely: an original composition with Impressionistic overtones.

The Phil Classics Series will return to the Civic Center Stage on April 6 for an exciting program of Shostakovich and Gershwin.