Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra proposes its 'winter playlist' with three women: two composers, one soloist

ICO guest conductor Kazem Abdullah has Indiana roots.

Eminent in their respective eras as musical standouts upholding the accomplishments of women, Louise Farrenc and Jennifer Higdon were represented by major works in Saturday's concert by the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra titled "Winter Playlist."

Butler University's Schrott Center for the Arts also welcomed two guest artists; Kazem Abdullah on the podium and Bella Hristova as soloist in Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor.

Farrenc enjoyed an early 19th-century career as a scholar and performer with a solid family position in French musical life. Her Third Symphony (also in G minor) was unpublished in her lifetime. The ICO filled the second half with this piece, an overall cheerful work despite its minor mode and suggestions of Romantic gloom and shadow along the way. 

Those moods were all set in a buoyant sort of language reminiscent of Felix Mendelssohn, especially in the elfin scherzo (third movement). The unity of the ensemble, essential to music of such brisk capriciousness, was remarkable.

Merry and menacing moods were oddly well-blended in the finale under Abdullah's guidance. Principal wind players were notably alert and lively throughout: the trio of the third movement featured vaulting arpeggios. Oboe, flute, clarinet and bassoon principals especially mastered their highlighted roles.

On the whole, Farrenc's symphony is not one I would yearn to hear repeated, but the ICO's search for diversity to enhance the classical canon is a worthwhile effort.

The music of Higdon, a contemporary whose output is much more conspicuous in today's active repertoire than Farrenc's was in her era, has been heard here several times, notably in 2010 with the premiere of her Violin Concerto, which went on to win that year's Pulitzer Prize. "Cold Mountain," based on a best-selling historical novel, was a hit on the operatic stage several years later, with well-received productions in Santa Fe and Philadelphia. A suite the composer drew from the opera opened this ICO concert. 

Bella Hristova 's playing is well-known here..

It was hard to focus on the integrity of this concoction, as so many aspects of the opera were brought forward in anthology-like fashion. The writing is immediately appealing, however, with a catchy pulse characterizing the opening episode and suggestions of mountain music appropriate to the story's setting in western North Carolina. 

A lyrical section features oboe and bassoon in counterpoint. Later, paired horn and trumpet, delicately supported by mallet percussion, introduce a chorale-like buildup. As the tempo picks up, a trombone solo allowed ICO patrons to hear Jared Rodin, the orchestra's principal since 1985 (Musicians of the Cloister days) take a rare turn in the spotlight. Another oboe melody, handled with his usual aplomb by Leonid Sirotkin, sets up the expected maestoso peroration for the ensemble.

Hristova has had a following here since she was among the laureates in the 2006 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. Her impassioned performance of the Prokofiev concerto, with a golden tone well-exhibited in the second movement, made a hit with Saturday's audience. She always found moments of lyrical charm, even among the sometimes ironic dash and insouciance of the fast music. In the latter, she occasionally pushed the tempo slightly ahead of the orchestra, though the drag was insubstantial. Called back for an encore, she played "Rachenitsa" by Petar Hristoskov, a 20th-century violinist-composer from the soloist's homeland, Bulgaria.