Review: Young pianist impresses with Grieg Concerto
Review by Paul Hyde, The Greenville News:
Caleb Borick has a talent to be reckoned with.
The Charleston-based pianist, all of 11 years old, clearly possesses the technical chops to take on a formidable piece like Grieg’s Piano Concerto.
Caleb offered an incisive account of the concerto, one of the most popular in the repertoire, in a performance with the Fountain Inn Symphony Orchestra at the Younts Center Saturday night.
Also included on the program, under the direction of Gwen Starling, were works by Bernstein and John Williams.
Caleb brought a crisp articulation to the Grieg concerto, delivering the third movement folk dance with clarity and flair.
He demonstrated a musicality well beyond his years, meanwhile, in the sensitively phrased lyrical passages of the second and third movements. His assured reading of the concerto’s dazzling cadenza was marvelous.
Caleb obviously has a future ahead of him as a solo pianist. With maturity should come greater strength, command and dynamic variation.
The Fountain Inn Symphony, despite some intonation problems, provided solid support in the concerto.
Starling opened the concert with a robust interpretation of John Williams’ “Summon The Heroes,” a piece the popular film score composer wrote for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta.
The orchestra’s strings were underpowered, primarily because they were few in number.
“Summon the Heroes” spotlighted some fine work by the orchestra’s principal trumpet player Evan Duke.
Also included in the concert was a pleasing, often boisterous suite of selections from Bernstein’s “West Side Story.”
Despite some intonation problems, the Fountain Inn Symphony cannot be faulted for lacking in gusto.
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Via: The Greenville News