Review: Symphony concert in Cowichan the best this year
“Then Kluxen ran across the stage and started conducting the wind sections and Brian Yoon. The wind sections had sat silently through the Biber piece and Yoon sneaked on just at the end. The surprise for us was that he was joined by a drummer and two electric guitar players, one of whom doubled on the double [bass]. They all launched straight into the ouverture of [Friedrich Gulda’s] ‘Concerto for Cello and Wind Orchestra’. This movement was pure rock and roll and it was as well that Yoon had confessed to playing heavy metal on his cello because rock he did. However, even this rock music was interwoven with Alpen music straight from the Austrian Alps with an alpenhorn imitation in the form of a “Landler,” a slower precursor of the waltz.
The next movement, ‘Idylle’, has us well and truly in the Alps with the brass section introducing folk melodies taken up by the cello.
Then the tour du force, the Cadenza. This movement was almost entirely left to the imagination of the soloist with minimal hints of what the composer thought might be played. Yoon was simply amazing and I had no idea that such a variety of sounds and musical effects could be made by one cello!
This was followed by a stately Menuett played as a duo with the solo cello and a guitar followed by a graceful lyrical conversation between the cello and a flute. All this led into the rousing March which could have been heard in any beer garden during Octoberfest.
This amazing performance by Yoon earned him a spontaneous roar from the audience who leapt to their feet in rousing ovation.”