Week Two of New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s Winter Festival shone with the magic of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in a mostly vocal program that was surprisingly intimate in such large spaces. Taking place all over the state from Bergen PAC in Englewood to Newark’s NJPAC to the State Theatre in New Brunswick, from January 9 to 12, this was a sweeping performance deserving of wide exposure. We enjoyed artists familiar and new, with some of the world’s most popular classical music.
This year, the Winter Festival reflects Music Director Xian Zhang’s love of theatre music and the program’s first act opened with one of Mozart’s most popular works, the motet “Exsultate Jubilate,” Köchel 165, where we met soprano Meigui Zhang for the first time, as she navigated the most melismatic passages with ease. Her voice is rich and sweet, like sunshine through honey, and she will appear with the Metropolitan Opera later this season. Her delicate interpretation and glorious phrasing gave her opportunity to showcase her technique. In the final Allegro (“Alleluia”), Zhang scintillated through the passages, singing with great joy, illuminating the entire audience. Eric Wyrick then regaled us with Mozart’s Violin Concerto Number Four, Köchel 218. None of Mozart’s original cadenzas have survived, so Wyrick played the cadenzas of Joseph Joachim, the world renowned violin virtuoso who was a contemporary of Johannes Brahms. Concertmaster Wyrick flexed his genius that was made even more beautiful as he was playing a 1690 vintage Stradivarius violin, a generous loan from James Huang and the Kai Yue Foundation, whose work supports many communities dedicated to art and knowledge. The tone of the violin in the hands of a master made for a transcendent experience. The Allegro was light and gamboling, with each note in the solo like a spark of light. The Andante cantabile was as sweet as that special quality of light in the late afternoon with the delicate dynamics in the cadenza feeling like a declaration of love. The Rondeau: Andante grazioso–Allegro non troppo began with a bit of call and response, a musical game of tag with playfulness and virtuosity in equal measures, coaxing us to join the soloist on an epic adventure. After that, we certainly needed an intermission. This act was a concert in itself!
Act Two was an amazing match for all that had gone before. We met exciting vocal artists whom you will want to watch–they performed a cavalcade of Maestra Zhang’s favorite selections from Mozart operas. Whether you were thrilled by Yunuet Laguna’s power in “Porgi Amor,” from “Le Nozze di Figaro,” or Meigui Zhang’s gamine expressiveness in “Batti, batti, o bel Masetto,” from “Don Giovanni,” these are the stars of tomorrow, along with Jessica Faselt, a full-on diva with a big soprano voice, whose strength and beauty was such a complement to Mario Bahg’s tenor, rich in sustaining emotion in their duet “Fuggi, crudele, fuggi!” from “Don Giovanni;” Gabriella Reyes’ gorgeous emoting in “Mi tradi, quell’alma ingrate,” also from “Don Giovanni;” Valentina Pluzhnikova’s deft and rich interpretation of Cherubino’s “Voi che sapete,” sung to female colleagues, in “Figaro,” deliciously staged in such a way that I wondered whether some folks in the audience might have thought Mozart was LGBTQIA+- friendly, if they didn’t realize that mezzo sopranos sing “pants roles”, where women play male characters—the thought of that was a LOT of fun! and Zhang and Laguna’s ravishing “Sull’aria/Che soave zeffiretto.” from “Figaro,”
Great seats are still available for the remainder of the season, if you act quickly, and visit www.njsymphony.org.