Randall Goosby receives praise for his Philadelphia Orchestra debut
Randall Goosby (Photo credit: Kaupo Kikkas)
Review: Philadelphia Orchestra, violinist Goosby astound crowd at SPAC
By Geraldine Freedman
The Daily Gazette
August 12, 2022
The Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of music director Yannick Nezet-Seguin once again astounded a huge crowd Thursday night at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center with their extraordinary playing and joie de vivre. Added to that was the orchestra and SPAC debut of violinist Randall Goosby, who was equally fabulous.
The program began with a briskly paced and perky Rossini Overture to “The Thieving Magpie.” Nezet-Seguin, who likes to let his players play out especially at full volume, set a wide range of dynamics. Tempos were traditional but even so the fast technical passages especially in the violins had great clarity. And piccolo player Erica Peel knocked off her snappy solos with tight precision. A speedy finish brought a huge applause, whistles and cheers.
Goosby was next in the wonderfully romantic Bruch Violin Concerto. Goosby, 26, has studied the last ten or more years with the great Itzhak Perlman and showed all the style and strong musicality one would expect. He projected a cool and confident demeanour and from the opening highly nuanced bars, he played with deep bowing, a lot of passion and lift to his phrases and a clean technique.
While Nezet-Seguin was a close partner and tended the balances well and would linger over a phrase to follow, once the orchestra had its own say, he’d let them soar with fire and pushed the tempo to create waves of sound. Their partnership was interesting to watch as both smiled a lot especially after a huge technical display from Goosby. It was obvious the pleasure both were getting from the performance.
The crowd jumped to its feet with wild cheers, whistling, huge applause.
After more curtain calls, Goosby whipped out an encore: “Louisiana Blues Strut.” Written by Ashley Home of the Harlem Chamber Players, it’s a toe tapping, smaltzy, down-home crowd pleaser that Goosby knocked off with great pizzazz. Nezet-Seguin, who had seated himself on the podium to listen, was clearly entranced. Another standing ovation.
To read the full review, click here.