Conductor among music director candidates

The Santa Rosa Symphony soared into its 78th season Saturday night under guest conductor Federico Cortese with grace and ease, capping off the evening with a searing performance of Dvorak's Symphony No. 8.

It's difficult to lead an orchestra that hasn't played together for five months, especially when you're the new guy in town.

But the cool-headed Cortese, who is the third of seven candidates trying out for the music director post, elicited both precision and passion from the ensemble during the sun-dappled Dvorak work.

There is nothing flashy or over-the-top about Cortese's conducting.

He emanates good, solid musicianship that speaks as simply and directly as the folksy melodies Dvorak wove into his irresistible eighth symphony.

Dvorak's open-hearted ode to his Czech heritage evokes all there is to love in an orchestra, from the pulse of the timpani to the plaintive cry of an English horn. And there was a lot to love Saturday night.

The orchestra polished the Dvorak to a high luster, responding to Cortese's unbuttoned approach with lush string tone, eloquent woodwind solos and piercing brass fanfares.

The work received a standing ovation, as did Tchaikovsky's "Variations on a Rococo Theme" performed before intermission by the young cellist Hai-Ye Ni.

This de facto cello concerto, based on a neoclassical theme spun off into seven virtuoso variations, was performed with unerring pitch and solid technique by the impressive soloist. But it was her phrasing - the singing, overarching shape she gave each melodic line - that elevated this work beyond a mere show of virtuosity.

The evening opened with Haydn's Symphony No. 94, "Surprise," the most popular of the composer's 104 symphonies in its own time.

Despite crisp cues and cut-offs from Cortese, the reduced orchestra seemed to have difficulty projecting a solid sound in the deceptively simple work. With repeated performances, this problem will probably iron itself out. Still, the "surprise" here was that the orchestra had to struggle so hard to make a case for a Haydn symphony.

More persuasive was the orchestra's rendition of William Bolcom's "MCMXC Tanglewood," performed after intermission.

This short work for large orchestra creates an alluring soundscape, with jazzy brass and percussion sections juxtaposed against eerie, sliding strings.

It builds to a climax that, unlike the loud chord Haydn slipped 16 bars into his Andante, did wake up the audience's ears.