The Lancaster Symphony Orchestra, led by Conductor Stephen Gunzenhauser, confounded expectations at almost every turn during the weekend's season-closing concerts at the Fulton Opera House.

"The Essential Rachmaninoff and Ravel" could have been the title of a program of familiar warhorses, but wasn't. The obvious crowd-pleaser — Ignace Jan Paderewski's Piano Concerto in A Minor — was probably the least familiar work (and composer) on the list.

It was a unified program, as well, bridging the 19th and 20th centuries with the three composers whose lives nearly coincided. A theme of the dance ran through the program as well, from Maurice Ravel's "La Valse" to the Polish dances that cropped up throughout the Paderewski concerto, ending up with the more conceptual "Symphonic Dances" of Sergey Rachmaninoff.

Pianist Ian Hobson brought seemingly effortless virtuosity and a calm demeanor to Paderewski's charming yet extremely challenging work. Without unnecessary theatrics, he spun out flashing sequences of piano pyrotechnics and seemingly simple lines suddenly exploding with challenges. The concerto, composed in 1888-89, looks back to the compositions of Chopin and Liszt and incorporates a number of styles of Polish folk dance.

The piece establishes a pastoral feel from the beginning, with its opening oboe, flute and French horns. Also notable were some lovely violin passages for concertmaster Jose Cueto.

Put together, the Ravel and the Rachmaninoff works provide a sonic portrait of the anguished first half of the 20th century, and were in no sense easy listening. The ominous beginning of "La Valse (1920)," with low brass and double basses establishing an insistent beat, slowly pulls the rest of the orchestra into a Viennese waltz.

As the strings swoop and scoop and woodwinds add off-kilter passages that bubble up only to subside, parodies of waltz tunes emerge. A pounding, industrial-strength rhythm breaks the mood, the madness of the roaring '20s breaks in and the work ends discordantly.

Gunzenhauser played up the contrasts for all they were worth, coming up with an emotionally wrenching, occasionally disjunct interpretation.

Even more unhinged was the performance of the "Symphonic Dances." This powerful 1940 work was the last Rachmaninoff wrote, and it contains a deep sense of dislocation that the orchestra's performance brought out in no uncertain terms.

Driven from Russia by revolution, Rachmaninoff and his family moved from place to place, finally fleeing Europe for the U.S. at the start of World War II. As both a conductor and a pianist, he toured harder than a rock musician and won a high level of fame; as a composer, he wrote some of the most enduring melodies of all time, set to some of the most lushly romantic music ever written.

Rachmaninoff pushes all this aside in "Symphonic Dances." A sardonic, even Stravinskian mood enters as the orchestration is cut back. Beautiful melodies start to emerge but are exploded before they can develop. A ravishing theme is allowed to develop in the second movement, but is given to a stranger to the orchestra to play — the alto saxophone (played by Brandon Hollinger).

The finale combines the "Dies Irae" chant melody — a symbol of death, warning of the "day of judgment" — with the traditional Russian chant "Blessed be the Lord," which refers to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Adding to the mix are various dance rhythms, including some Spanish-sounding sections. The "Dies Irae" eventually consumes all before it and the piece subsides in anguish.

On Friday, at least, the performance received a subdued reception, but the orchestra and Gunzenhauser deserve some credit for offering some unflinchingly difficult, both musically and emotionally, material; material that forces us to take a good hard look at the pain of the 20th century, what it meant for the artists and what it means for us.

(More on this concert is available at blogs.lancasteronline.com/stoplookandlisten)


Staff writer Elizabeth Patton can be reached at epatton@LNPnews.com or 481-6005.