Part of the Masterworks Concert Series for the Palm Beach Symphony’s 2025-26 program, Alisa Weilerstein was the star of the show in a recent performance at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach.The evening began with Daniel Asia’s Gateways and culminated in the dramatic, epic journey of Strauss’ Alpine Symphony.

 

Ms. Weilerstein’s performance of Shostakovich’s gripping Cello Concerto No. 1. in E-Flat Major, OP. 107 with a vigor and passion usually reserved for NFL games. It was a sight to behold and kept full house rapt with awe. From the opening Allegretto to the Moderato, the second movement, there was an air of suspense and drama throughout the beautiful Dreyfoos Concert Hall. Ms. Weilerstein, dressed in a red suit that made her look like a cross between a Bond Girl and a female assassin, was striking in ways that transcended the expectations of what a classical cellist would or should or could be. The Palm Beach Symphony was pressed into action from the opening note and their participation was a lovely complement to Ms. Weilerstein’s virtuosity and commitment.

 

Conducted by Gerard Scwharz , the Palm Beach Symphony on this night was put to the test with the program. Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 can aptly be described as a kind of machine-gun aesthetic, a form of challenge to the conventions of this beautiful instrument. Ms. Weilerstein played her interpretation with gusto and fearlessness, bringing the audience to its feet when the final movement, the Allegro con molto, was completed.

The night’s dramatic sounds were far from finished however when the Alpine Symphony by Strauss made it’s first sonic wavelengths of adventure. A composition in 22 movements, with each piece being indicated by the supertitles above the stage and explained by Mr. Schwarz before the beginning of the performance, Strauss’s Alpine Symphony resembles a classic 1930s German melodrama and makes for gripping theater

Beginning with Night and Sunrise and moving on to The Ascent, Apparition and concluding with Vanishing Sound and Night, along with many more movements or episodes in between, the Alpine symphony included many instruments very rarely seen and heard including a wind machine vigorously performed here, and others.

In fact, this performance of The Alpine Symphony felt closer to theater and film than simply “classical music” and I am sure that’s the way Richard Strauss would have wanted it. It was bravura and it was memorable.

It made for a fitting and lovely climax to the evening.
Here is a list of the performers.
VIOLIN I
Evija Ozolins, Concertmaster
Marina Lenau, Assistant Concertmaster 
Glenn Basham, Associate Concertmaster
Samvel Arakelyan
Charlotte Loukola
Christophe Koenig
Emin Huseynov
Rosie Weiss
Tinca Belinschi
Mia Hakkarainen
Erika Venable
Dina Bikzhanova
Jacque Gadway
Yilian Concepcion
VIOLIN II
Valentin Mansurov, Principal 
Claudia Cagnassone
Ruby Berland
Haoge Wang
Ben Garrett
Orlando Forte
Evgeniya Antonyan
Ruvit Bracho
Michael Wu
Adriana Fernandez
Alfredo Oliva
Oleksii Hamov
VIOLA
Chauncey Patterson, Principal
Felicia Besan
Angela Kratchmer
Adrienne Williams
Gabrielle Malaniak
Roberto Henriquez
David Pedraza
Christian Curran
Gabriella Mazzone
Alex D’Amico
CELLO
Brent Charran, Principal
Aziz Sapaev
German Marcano
Tadeo Hermida
Antonio Ianamo
Niloufar Nabikhani
Alex Vallejos
Maria Savelyeva
BASS
Juan Carlos Peña, Principal
Brian Myhr
Jeff Adkins
Amy Nickler
William Penn
Pablo Camacho
FLUTE
Nadine Asin, Principal
Dmytro Gnativ
Ay Kawasaki
Alyssa Mena
OBOE
Antonio Urrutia, Principal
Elisas Medina
Karen Trujillo
Haley Hoffman, Bass English horn
 
CLARINET
Vadim Lando, Principal
Julian Santacoloma
Kelsey Castellano, Eb Clarinet
Raul Marcano, Bass Clarinet
BASSOON
Gabriel Beavers, Principal
Carlos Felipe Viña
Christina Bonatakis
Gabreille Hsu
FRENCH HORN
Amber Dean, Principal
Mark Trotter
Caiti Beth McKinney
Michelle Haim
Brittney Pertsas
Judeny Lebron
Greg Miller
Own Miller
TRUMPET
Robby Garrison, Guest Principal
Gabriel Gutierrez
Morgan Low
Marc Reese
Nelson Martinez (Asia)
Ricardo Chinchilla (Asia)
TROMBONE
Domingo Pagliuca, Principal
Adrian Corredor
Patrick Hengstler
Andre Prouty, Bass Trombone
TUBA
Ben Liberti, Principal
Dylan Silverstein
TIMPANI
Lucas Sanchez, Principal
Andrew Proctor
PERCUSSION
Scott Crawford, Principal
Colin Williams (Strauss)
Nathan Coffman
Matthew Nichols
HARP
Laura Sherman, Principal
Marti Ann Moreland
PIANO/ CELESTE
Valeria Polunina, Principal
ORGAN
David MacFarlane
The Palm Beach Symphony graces South Florida with world-class musicians as part of their orchestra and of those who visit for a single night. They are a wonderful sonic gift to all who are fortunate enough to hear and see them. They are the Vanishing Sounds of a time, our period, filled with too much throwaway, manufactured music.