Columbus Symphony Orchestra
Rossen Milanov, conductor
Brian Mangrum, horn

Women of the Columbus Symphony Chorus
Ronald J. Jenkins, chorus director

Ohio Theatre
Columbus, OH
March 18, 2022

Britten: Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes, Op. 33a
Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1 in E flat major, Op. 11
Liszt: Dante Symphony, S109

Though Franz Liszt is rightly remembered as chiefly a composer for the piano, he produced a vast body of orchestral works – including virtually inventing the tone poem – that should not be overlooked. In some particularly ambitious programming, the Columbus Symphony offered the first local performances of the Dante Symphony, an orchestral portrait of The Divine Comedy. An informative pre-concert conversation between music director Rossen Milanov and Jonathan Combs-Schilling from Ohio State’s Italian department gave thoughtful insight into both the music and its literary inspiration. A visual element was added with Gustave Doré‘s iconic illustrations to accompany the text – produced in 1857, the same year as the symphony – projected along with the music. Though an intriguing idea, the stage lights largely diluted the projections, rendering them more a distraction than an enhancement.

The first movement Inferno began with an imposing descent to the hell in the low brass – trombones in particular have long been associated with depictions of the underworld, dating back to Monteverdi’s Orfeo. A wound-up tension was purveyed in music that was unrelenting, often overwhelming in ferocity, but Milanov had a thorough grasp of the large-scale form, serving as an incisive guide. Secondary material depicted the doomed love affair of Francesca and Paolo, a languid contrast. A skeletal recitative-like passage in the bass clarinet was quite striking, and Liszt made use of richly chromatic, Wagernian harmonies, sounding at times like a page out of Tristan. Milanov rightly reined in the bombast during the coda, but still yielded a close that was powerfully unforgiving.

The second movement Purgatorio provided some much needed peace after the preceding, with some especially touching scoring for the harp and oboe. This was fittingly music of stasis, held in contemplative limbo, although a triumphant passage and a thorny fugue gave matters both variety and perhaps a glimmer of hope. Liszt had originally envisioned concluding the work with a Paradiso movement, mirroring the source material, but conceded that depicting heaven would be all but impossible. Instead, he provided a lovely Magnificat as something of a pendant to previous movement. It’s a hymn of sorts wherein we manage just a glimpse of the entrance to paradise. It was a magical moment when the women of the Columbus Symphony Chorus appeared practically out of the ether, offering an angelic vision of what lies beyond in the most deeply moving music of the work. The performance was a laudable achievement, and I hope Milanov and the CSO will continue to explore Liszt’s lesser-known orchestral pieces.

The program began with Britten’s Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes, a quantity which amazingly hasn’t appeared on a CSO program since 1979. High strings opened with an almost mystical evocation of dawn, though the intonation left something to be desired. “Sunday Morning” saw a brassy awakening, replete with tolling church bells. “Moonlight” was tranquil though not without foreboding as matters took a darker turn in the closing “Storm.”

The ensemble afforded the spotlight to one of its own in Strauss’ Horn Concerto No. 1 in bringing Brian Mangrum front and center, the CSO’s principal horn since 2018. Written when the composer was a precocious 18 year old, the regal E flat major tonality set the stage for a decisive solo entrance, and Mangrum offered a warm, rich tone. A lyrical slow movement saw the horn in dialogue with a rising gesture in the strings, a moment of repose before the jaunty and limber finale.