Lang Lang is stellar in kickoff to season

Review

The Seattle Symphony Opening Night Concert and Gala, with Gerard Schwarz conducting, and Lang Lang, piano soloist; Benaroya Hall, Saturday night.

Benaroya Hall was sold out, and an exuberant audience was ready to party when the Seattle Symphony and music director Gerard Schwarz assembled on the stage Saturday evening. The gala, a tradition since the opening of Benaroya Hall in 1998, usually features a stellar soloist; the ebullient young pianist Lang Lang filled the bill in every respect.

Lang Lang's performance of Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" with Schwarz and the orchestra was revelatory, demonstrating a new level of maturity in a performer who has made his mark as an exuberant, fiery technician. Here instead was a thoughtful reading, full of delicate shadings and nuances.

And, yes, there was plenty of digital prowess on display. Part of the fun of live performance is hearing and watching an artist overcome daunting technical challenges in the process of making music. Seldom, however, do such challenges disappear as completely as under the fingers of Lang Lang.

Schwarz and the orchestra were occasionally hard pressed to keep up when the pianist hit the accelerator, but the results were scintillating. Repeated ovations called Lang Lang back for two solo encores: Schumann's dreamy "Traumerei," and a Chinese piece, "Happy Holidays."

More youthful talent was on display within the orchestra: The evening's first notes in the "William Tell" Overture of Rossini were eloquently played by the new principal cellist, Joshua Roman, who is just 22.

The programming leaned toward splashy, stirring works: the Triumphal March and ballet sequences from Verdi's "Aida," and Respighi's glittering "The Pines of Rome," full of special effects (including some startlingly loud recorded nightingales, required by the score, though possibly not at this volume).

Sam and Gladys Rubinstein were named winners of the annual Arts Award.