After the Oberlin Chamber Orchestra brought down the house two Sundays ago, the Oberlin Orchestra received a standing ovation after delivering yet another powerful concert last Friday, Oct. 5. Featuring Professor of Violin Gregory Fulkerson in Berg’s Violin Concerto, the concert also included Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and Strauss’s Dance of the Seven Veils, from Salomé, and satisfied week-long expectations.

Vigorous, playful and seductive, Strauss opened the concert and pinned the audience’s attention. Sultry oboe solos, impressive flute calls, various percussions used for effect and watercolor harp gestures added to the richness of the orchestra’s sound to depict Salomé’s wild dance. The reward was St. John the Baptist’s head on a platter. Intense with fury, sometimes grotesquely fleshy, the music swirled faster and faster to reach the finale where a red-hot waltz drew out the last, triumphant stoke.

With its contrasting character — personal and intimate — Berg’s Violin Concerto, written in memory of Gustav Mahler’s daughter, Manon Gropius, rounded out the first half. Fulkerson played the long, lyrical melodies and philosophic phrases with profound understanding of the music, while the orchestra beautifully backed him up. A slow Andante introduction and vulnerable Adagio framed the two dreamy Allegretto and Allegro parts, portraying the drama of Gropiüs’s sudden death from polio. 

Conductor Bridget Michaele-Reischl offered an interesting interpretation of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition with unorthodox tempo choices (a moving, even fast Bydlo and somewhat relaxed Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks) and catchy voice which highlighted soloing instruments or orchestral groups.

Conservatory senior Michael Brest’s trumpet solo in the Promenade promised a masterful presence, which he mercilessly displayed until the very end. Conservatory senior bassoonist Thomas Schneider also kept a high profile — his warm sound colored many of the musical pictures.

The saxophone solo in The Old Castle deserves a special praise, while Conservatory senior Brandon George’s flute solos and the whole woodwind section were impeccable. The brass section, especially the French horns, trumpets and trombone sections, seemed to know their parts inside and out. The strings were vibrant, constantly changing their sound to fit the character glued together by the musical vision of Victor Hartman’s post-mortem exhibition.

Maurice Ravel’s orchestration of Mussorgsky’s piano cycle is one of the best-known pieces by the Russian composer. What the 88 keys sometimes fail to deliver color-wise was perfectly put together in an arrangement, interpreted superbly and enthusiastically by the Oberlin Orchestra. Beware, for Berlioz’s Symphonie Phantastique is to be heard in the near future. A standing ovation might be involved there, too.