Oboe soloist Michael Adduci was extraordinary, and the piece, as a whole, flowed neatly out of what had preceded it: an Eastern-leaning setting, by John Rutter, the English composer and choral conductor, of “Three Kings of Orient.”
Later, Touchi’s “Reflection on Hanukkah,” drawing melodic material from the Yiddish tune “Tif in Veldele (Deep in the Forest),” matched light (clarinetist Mark Brandenburg’s super-virtuoso klezmer flights) against shadow (a chorale of strings, playing the Yiddish tune “in retrograde”; backward, in other words).
Still deeper into the program, Touchi’s “Reflection on Tet,” honoring the Vietnamese New Year, integrated lively folk-dance passages, slow pentatonic interludes of ritual calm, and flutter-breath flute cadenzas, performed by Isabelle Chapuis, a dazzling player.
So fun to see Michael Adduci, Mark Brandenburg, Michael Touchi, and Isabelle Chapuis mentioned in the review! I only wish I could have heard the concert. (Or played it; I was unavailable for the gig.)
