The Ohio Theatre Setting and the Columbus Symphony Orchestra Program
The Ohio Theatre can easily swallow one’s attention. Featuring works by Gregory Spears and Davóne Tines, the performance generated a palpable dynamism between the stage and the audience.
Music Director Rossen Milanov and the Columbus Symphony performed on Friday, Oct. 23, and Saturday, Oct. 24, at the Ohio Theatre, previewing the orchestra’s 75th-anniversary season ahead of an upcoming performance at Carnegie Hall. The program offered a stellar experience of clear interpretive choices in new works focused on heart and passion.
Gregory Spears and “The Mysteries”
The episodic first movement, “♩= 62,” featured short motivic passages set in consonant harmony and lush timbres.
“Solemn” was defined by fragments of the minimalist yet Romantic main melody moving through the orchestra. In “Grazioso,” this theme is cut up into an exposition of false starts. The Mysteries serves as Spears’ largest orchestral work so far, consisting of three movements lasting 27 minutes.
And then… to top it off!This morning I was at the dress rehearsal of a brand new piece of music. Rossen Milanov and the extraordinary musicians of the Columbus Symphony brought Gregory Spears' *The Mysteries* to life ahead of tonight's world premiere. Columbus, we are lucky to… https://t.co/1Omhx0baRa pic.twitter.com/rEdgZugdqK
Davóne Tines and Concerto No. 2: ANTHEM
Tines and the CSO began with triumphant bombast, though the move to dissonant and angular settings of the less celebratory verses felt direct. Next came a pre-recorded recitation of Browne’s “Let America” played over the sound system while onstage performers sat in silence. With lines like “Still shot Kill shot Boom-bap” and “America has yet to rise to its ancestral potential,” it stood as a missed opportunity not to have the entire poem set to music. Hearing Tines sing the word “pickaninny” in a concert hall looked that ugly word and its connotations right in the face.
Sorey’s setting for “after ‘Oh, Freedom’” leaned into the despair of what comes after determination, utilizing a distant trumpet, trombones, a drum roll, and atonal harmony. Meanwhile, “NEW CODE: ‘Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing’” featured an arrangement of the Black National Anthem. As Tines sang “our native land,” he emphasized that despite the mess and ugliness, this is home—a message that caused an older Black woman in the audience to gently nod her head with a knowing smile.
Milanov Leads CSO in Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5
Despite some creative choices, Tines and the CSO performed Concerto No. 2: ANTHEM with a focus and dedication that earned a standing ovation. At intermission, an audience member remarked, “Now we can enjoy the Tchaikovsky.” Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 in E minor filled the canonical role, proving to be a pairing with the works by Spears and Tines. Music director Rossen Milanov made expert use of rubato and acceleration, oscillating between guiding the orchestra and stepping out of their way. Throughout the night, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra maintained its expressive dedication across all three pieces, pushing the limits of orchestral writing through lush phrases, wordless storytelling, and powerful fortissimo.
