Review: James Lowe and the Spokane Symphony make the Fox shine again

When it still seemed possible that the Spokane Symphony could begin its season in September 2020, music director James Lowe considered programming the Symphony “Resurrection” for the opening concert, the 2nd Symphony by Gustav Mahler. As we know, the orchestra and its audience had to wait another 12 months until Saturday evening before this concert could take place.

The music it offered was both more loyal to the experience and more inspiring in reflecting on what remains than Mahler’s great symphony, which describes the rebirth of humanity in a life without grief and death. Instead, Lowe and his orchestra presented a program that leads to finding joy and fulfillment in life while recognizing its tragic character.

The three works of the weekend program – the “Fanfare on Amazing Grace (2011)” by the American composer Adolphus Hailstork (1941-); the Violin Concerto in D minor op. 47 (1905) by the Finn Jean Sibelius (1865-1957); and Johannes Brahms’ (1833-1897) Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73 (1877) – project the qualities that made the Spokane Symphony survive in this time of unprecedented peril.

These qualities are passion, imagination, resilience and love. These were the qualities that brought every musician to the stage, every employee and volunteer of the symphony to their place in the house and every spectator to their place. Hailstork’s “Fanfare” is a skilfully written icebreaker that gave the members of the brass section ample opportunity to demonstrate their considerable skills.

After 90 seconds of joyous rustling, the strings enter with a swelling statement from the great English anthem. The impact of programming the piece was greatly enhanced by Lowe’s decision to enlist the great resources of the Spokane Symphony Chorale to precede it with a short but deeply poignant rendition of the hymn.

The group was led by the outstanding director Kristina Ploeger-Hekmatpanah. When the auditorium lighting was dimmed, members of the chorale spread across the balcony. I’m sure the chill wasn’t limited to my spine as their pure and solemn voices emerged from the darkness to remind them of the ultimate source of energy that had brought them all together.

The American violinist Bella Hristova, who was born in Bulgaria, was a charming, modest and eloquent young woman in her remarks at the lecture before the concert. As a soloist in the Sibelius Violin Concerto, however, she turned out to be a fiery angel, who expressed the intense longing and the ecstatic passion of this most passionate violin concerto through the rain of notes and unbridled streams of golden tone of her great Amati violin from 1655.

To be present at such a musical performance was an unforgettable gift. Hristova’s intense commitment and his concentration on the passionate concerto by Sibelius was fully achieved by Lowe, whose careful interlocking of tempo and instrumental balance with the conception of the soloist was ideal. By staying true to the composer’s unique idiom, Lowe conveyed the full psychological and instrumental complexity of this great masterpiece as if hearing it for the first time.

The Brahms D major symphony as the final work was welcomed as an opportunity to finally hear what the general music director would do with an important foundation of the orchestral repertoire that has a long, well-documented tradition of interpretation and that he himself chose. The result is a revelation not only of Lowe’s deep interpretive depth, but also of the true nature of a masterpiece that many took for granted.

In choosing and handling the repertoire on Saturday night, Lowe displayed the same virtues of character that enabled him to give so much to our community despite, or perhaps because of, the many obstacles that have come his way. Although the number of his appearances was relatively small, his influence on the life of Spokane was profound and indelible, even on those who care little about the music to which he dedicated his life.