Excerpt from “The Columbus Dispatch” by Peter Tonguette
The Columbus Symphony’s latest program, “The Trumpet Shall Sound,” featured a pair of pieces that showed off the instrument to dazzling and diverse effect: Dmitri Shostakovich’s “Piano Concerto No. 1″ and Leos Janacek’s “Sinfonietta.”
Featured as a soloist on the first piece was former CSO principal trumpeter George Goad, who, after a two-year stint in Columbus, recently became a member of the Montreal Symphony.
The trumpeter’s return appearance was nothing less than stellar.
Goad and pianist Dominic Cheli brought spark and sensitivity to the concerto. Even with the symphony behind them, their instruments seemed to dance with each other; at times, the moody whine of the trumpet offset the commanding power of the piano.
Under the precise yet intense leadership of conductor Rossen Milanov, the symphony was fully in control of the concerto, which was alternately peppy and poignant, with hints of mystery sprinkled throughout.
The concert opened with Igor Stravinsky’s “Divertimento from The Fairy’s Kiss,” an elegiac, understated work first composed to accompany a ballet.