Philharmonic offers evening of passion, glory

The Las Vegas Philharmonic's bounty of classical music Saturday gave concertgoers an early reason to be thankful.

Under the direction of music director and conductor David Itkin, the orchestra offered selections by Shostakovich, Ravel and Schubert.

The evening opened with Shostakovich's "Ballet Suite No. 1 for orchestra, op. 84a." The composition is not universally praised, yet the performance was bright, upbeat and a good start to a program.

The half-dozen sections, none lasting more than three minutes, showed the orchestra's members can change steps as quickly as the "Dancing with the Stars" contestants, deftly switching from waltz to classical ballet to polka. The finale just needed acrobats balancing plates on sticks for a complete effect.

Guest pianist Ilya Yakushev then joined the orchestra for Ravel's "Piano Concerto in G Major." Its traditional three-movement, classical form lent itself to the quick, precise movements of the pianist. He bent into the more intense sections, then straightened to punctuate a musical point.

The piece, with a decided jazz influence, began with a style both witty and insouciant, before a second movement explored other 20th century musical styles. It is far more sensitive, more contemplative -- perhaps that's the reason Yakushev spent some of the section staring into the lights above as he played. This movement includes a complex, potentially exhaustingly long solo, but Yakushev offered it easily.

After intermission, the orchestra returned with a quality "Symphony No. 9 in C Major, D. 944" by Schubert.

The lengthy work was compelling from the first notes. Itkin assured that the orchestra presented the complex emotions of each movement, including multifaceted overlays of theme within theme, tempo to tempo. This full-bodied composition allowed the orchestra to show its skill, ending the evening with passion and glory.