MADISON -- You've got to hand it to John DeMain: At every season opener he finds ways to make the Madison Symphony Orchestra audience truly happy it decided to buy tickets.
The mood starts even before the MSO plays the "Star Spangled Banner." DeMain is something of a rock star in Madison and, as he strides to the podium, the Overture Hall audience almost wills him to be successful.
The fact that he has built a pretty good orchestra into a really good orchestra during his 17 years in Madison doesn't hurt the anticipation.
Friday's concert began with Brahms' “Academic Festival Overture,” a collection of Viennese student songs set to classical music. It set the tone for the evening, serious, but light-hearted music that taxed the orchestra but not the audience.
Then, of course, there was Olga Kern. A 36-year old Russian pianist who last performed with the MSO in 2009. Public television viewers may also have watched her perform this summer during a telecast of Metropolitan Opera soprana Renee Fleming's tour of St. Petersburg.
The fact that Kern is drop-dead gorgeous doesn't hurt matters. She walked on the stage wearing an evening gown that appeared almost too slim-cut to allow her to use the pedals on her Yamaha piano. She spent a couple of minutes adjusting the piano seat ("it was perfect this afternoon," she joked) and, then, blew the house apart with her rendition of Rachmaninoff's "Concerto No. 2 in c Minor."
Madison almost always gives its guest performers a standing ovation. We consider it polite. But, this time, people were on their feet cheering almost before Kern's fingers lifted from the keyboard. The audience would have been happy to have her just keep coming back and playing encores for the remainder of the evening.
But, she didn't. There was an intermission and, then, the MSO concluded its concert with Bartok's “Concerto for Orchestra.”
Now, after Olga Kern, this all seemed a bit anticlimactic. It was nothing of the sort. This was a very difficult piece of music that stretched the orchestra – but didn't break it. The MSO rose to the occasion and, to my mind, at least, played the piece flawlessly. It wasn't the musicians' fault that we all wanted Olga back.
At any rate, this year's MSO season had a great opening, one that promises another great year of music.
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