"Virtuoso Vibes"
"Symphony Offers Memorable Moments in Concert"
March 14, 2005
Ashland Times-Gazette
by Frederick Reeder

Following Saturday night's concert of the Ashland Symphony Orchestra I overheard Music Director and Conductor Arie Lipsky exclaim, "I'm exhausted!" And well he might be: That afternoon he had conducted a lively Young People's Concert (which the orchestra offers free of charge) to a packed house of very involved and very energetic kids. In the evening the orchestra offered a concert to it's subscription audience that consisted of two intricate and highly demanding works. Both events were resounding successes.

When I first noticed that the orchestra would essay Shostakovich's 11th Symphony I admit I was skeptical. This hour-long symphony is monumental in its intensity. Opera-like, it depicts in vivid musical colors the events of Russia's "Bloody Sunday" in 1905 when Czarist guards massacred hundreds of peasants as they attempted to protest their miserable existence. How, I wondered, could the Ashland Symphony Orchestra sustain such a huge and dramatic work? Won't the audience lose interest in the long, hushed stretches that depict the tension of the waiting crowd? Won't the long third movement, a funeral march entitled "Eternal Memory," seem to go on eternally?

I had forgotten that the Ashland Symphony Orchestra has been continually evolving into a true ensemble. By that I mean that the members of the orchestra have learned to listen carefully to one another, to balance, and to play together as an individual musical entity. I had also forgotten Arie Lipsky's obvious understanding and commitment to the music of Shostakovich. Finally, I had forgotten that the loyal audience has learned to trust Lipsky and the orchestra. It was no chore to let this powerful musical story of struggle against tyranny sweep us along through its cascades of anticipation, violence, sorrow and anguish, and steel-jawed resolve.

There were many memorable moments. Principal trumpet Ken Holzworth and his associate Dave VanBoxel thrilled us with their muted fanfare motives. The violas lead by principal Ann Smith played in wonderful unison in a complicated fugal section. Timpanist Jeff Neitzke augmented the drama of the attack by the Cossacks on horseback. In the last movement English Hornist Cynthia Warren provided a genuinely poetic solo that seemed to sum up the perpetual saga of oppressor and oppressed. The cataclysmic finale was literally hair-raising in its intensity and sheer volume of sound. The enthusiasm of the ovation was ample testament to Lipsky's and the orchestra's ability to enthrall the Ashland audience with an unfamiliar work.

The first half of the concert was devoted to the Sibelius Violin Concerto with the young French-Israeli soloist Naaman Sluchin. Sluchin, 27, has won numerous prizes in international competitions. His warm tone and technical expertise were winners as he rendered the romantic melodies and vaulting arpeggios of Sibelius' lovely concerto. He comes from a musical family: his sister, harpist Primor Sluchin played with the orchestra several seasons ago. In both concerts they were assisted by their uncle, conductor Arie Lipsky.

-- Frederick Reeder