Aubree Oliverson joins Princeton Symphony Orchestra for ‘magical’ Tchaikovsky concerto

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Violinist Aubree Oliverson performs with Rossen Milanov and the Princeton Symphony Orchestra.

If the Princeton Symphony Orchestra’s season-opening weekend was anything to go by, Rossen Milanov is in for a memorable milestone season. The PSO music director of 15 years packed the 2024-25 classical series, which runs through May 11, with artists, masterworks and composers with whom he has a special affinity, to celebrate his 60th birthday.

There was no shortage of warm emotion, appealing melodies and vigorous technique at the second concert of the Sept. 14-15 kickoff at Richardson Auditorium on the campus of Princeton University. The program of crowd-pleasers featured guest artist Aubree Oliverson in Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s blazing violin masterwork and included Johannes Brahms’ profound Fourth Symphony and Gemma Peacocke’s beguiling Manta with The Youth Orchestra of Central Jersey.

Oliverson, in her introductory remarks, called Tchaikovsky’s violin concerto “an incredibly special, magical piece that never fails to make me happy.” It was the first violin concerto she played in its entirety with a professional orchestra, The Utah Symphony, in 2012, when she was 13. She said that at that premiere, five minutes before curtain time she had a massive nosebleed that wouldn’t stop so she texted her mom for help. An EMT arrived and the concert started 25 minutes late while they patched her up. Then she added a little punchline, saying she also had pleasant memories associated with Tchaikovsky’s beloved work.

The Utah native is a rising star of classical music but there is very little artifice or affectation in her manner. She is naturalistic and expressive, and she and Milanov were united in this similar vision and performance style.

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Aubree Oliverson with Rossen Milanov and the Princeton Symphony Orchestra.

Tchaikovsky’s only concerto for violin, composed in 1878, came during the aftermath of a suicide attempt following a catastrophic marriage to a former student to quash speculation about his homosexuality. He reconnected with the violinist Iosif Kotek, a former student and assumed lover, whose guidance on bowing, fingering, dynamics and thematic material was integral to the work’s creation.

Like most Tchaikovsky, it demands passion, elegance, lyrical allure and a dash of sweetness. On top of that, it proposes numerous technical challenges for the soloist. There are breathless runs, dizzying finger crossings, double-stops, shifts, spiccato, vibrato and more.

Even at the swiftest moments of the virtuosic cadenza, Oliverson led with strong rhythms, effective accelerations and tricky articulations. Some wiry attacks and incredibly high string playing enlivened the second theme with an electrifying piquancy. Less emphasis on the beauty of tone, poeticism and mannered phrasing gave more urgency to her riveting portamento. Variations were captivating and had a sense of spontaneity, yet showed restraint and intensity. (During her encore, a caprice by Mark O’Connor, she had great fun with the work’s intricate folk rhythms and techniques through improvisational fiddling and coloristic effects.)

Milanov matched Oliverson’s stamina with hale and healthy tempi, playing up the contrasts between themes and moods. He brought double authority to Tchaikovsky as an admirer and as a Bulgarian-born Slav, with much of his musical training devoted to Russian music and language. He seemed to know that while Tchaikovsky’s work is full of lyricism and fire, it needs restraint; it doesn’t wear its heart on its sleeve.

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BASIA DANILOW

He suffused the Allegro’s first theme with Mozartian wit, grace and charm (Tchaikovsky admired Mozart and his work often bears his elegance). This gave way to a broader, richer second theme, followed by a dusky and tender Canzonetta. The Finale’s main themes were impassioned yet breezy with the characteristic strains of lively Russian folk music. Oliverson got swept up in it, too, digging into a feisty duel with concertmaster Basia Danilow.

While Milanov used a light touch to keep the spotlight on Oliverson, the Brahms had a sense of defiance that tapped into the tragic spirit of the German composer’s fourth (and final) symphony.

Brahms composed it in 1884 and 1885 as a rediscovery of the symphonic form, which he believed was in decline after Beethoven’s death in 1827. As a traditionalist, he stuck to classical music forms and harmonic structures, but composed innovatively; the Fourth is a masterpiece of his counterpoint, structure and harmony.

Milanov went as big as the hall’s intimate setting would allow; the effect was bold and beautiful, and carried all the trademarks of Brahms’ instrumental music, strenuous and exorbitantly thick. He seemed to know the score inside and out, conducting with no manuscript or podium, which allowed full movement and expansive gestures. The robust result was a quintessential reading of the beloved masterwork.

Many conductors slow down the tempi to underline the work’s overriding poignancy, tragedy and intensity, but it can become too heavy and morose. Milanov kept tempi on the slower side, but used a finely developed legato of broad, languid paces that made for a second movement of pure beauty.

The musicians made good work of Brahms’ inventiveness and thematic material, particularly in the development of the main theme’s four-note motif of the first movement. There was the melodic timpani of Jeremy Levine; Sooyun Kim’s strong, effortless flute solos; Nuno Antunes’ humanistic and commanding clarinet solos; and the cohesive horn section, led by Steven Harmon.

Strings and horn took the spotlight in the third movement’s quieter, richer moments while the outer scherzo was jocund and sweet.

The fourth movement, with its kaleidoscopic set of 30-plus variations based on the Passacaglia motif, typifies Brahms’ mastery of form and expression. Milanov’s dynamic exploration of the tonal relationships was admirable for its meticulous care, but a couple times, inner phrasing sounded disjointed between sections.

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Rossen Milanov conducts The Princeton Symphony Orchestra, joined by members of The Youth Orchestra of Central Jersey in the first row.

Manta (2023) represented a celebratory occasion to hear new music by a living composer and to spotlight the Youth Orchestra of Central Jersey, PSO partners since 2020. First row strings, including Danilow, relocated to the second row to accommodate a handful of young musicians for the short piece.

Peacocke’s work is not encumbered by complex ideas or tumultuous backstory — it was influenced by the meditative movements of oceanic mantas and stingrays that swim around Aotearoa, New Zealand, where she is from — and it is full of beautiful, atmospheric music. Woodwinds take up the pulse over harmonic strings with languid and graceful bowings. Just as the work’s beauty becomes persuasive, it ends on an unexpectedly sour and dissonant key change — the caprices of Mother Nature.

The concert’s program accomplished what it set out to do: celebrate Milanov’s milestone with engaging friends and works of immediate beauty.

For information about upcoming Princeton Symphony Orchestra concerts, visit princetonsymphony.org.