For Gutierrez fans, I thought I would forward this review of his recent concert with our orchestra. BPO reigns with majestic tones By HERMAN TROTTER Buffalo News News Music Critic 3/5/00 Television cameras ringed both the Kleinhans Music Hall stage and balcony Saturday evening as the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and Music Director JoAnn Falletta presented a program of music by Rossini, Respighi and, with pianist Horacio Gutierrez, Beethoven's "Emperor" Concerto. The concert will be repeated at 2:30 p.m. today, with a preconcert talk at 1:30. The cameras were taping for a broadcast at 8 p.m. March 26 on WNED-TV and FM to be called "Imperial Splendor." Happily, the performances will support that title with room to spare. The opening Rossini Overture to "The Italian Woman in Algiers" was crisply done, with some deft woodwind solos and fine control of the typically Rossinian sudden attacks, crescendos and accelerandos. The opening of the "Emperor" Concerto left no doubt as to what we were to hear. The grand orchestral chords were attacked heftily and right on the nose. Gutierrez, who had brought his own piano for the concerts, played the florid introductory lines with authority and bravado, while the long orchestral passage that followed had the ring of majesty. Gutierrez pianism had its own breadth and majesty but without sacrificing any clarity of articulation or the pointing up of detail. He kept a good perspective on the music's larger picture, with the moments of delicacy just as effective as the grandly stated passages. There was a fine balance between soloist and orchestra and a palpable camaraderie. The Adagio was played with great reverence, while Gutierrez handled the ascending trills impeccably, yet with sensitivity to nuance and dynamic shading. The same subtle detailing was later applied to the wonderful rocking figures just before the segue into the Finale, in which Gutierrez made the rising main theme sound full-toned and bursting with energy, but not blustery, while the orchestra matched the richness and solidity of sound. Falletta conducted the first BPO performance of Respighi's "Botticelli Triptych," proving that it should be heard more often. The shimmering strings and pealing horn in "La Primavera," the fine bassoon solo, haunting use of the hymn "Veni Emmanuel," the gorgeous string/wind harmonies in "The Adoration of the Magi" and the great upsweep of sound in "The Birth of Venus" were linked together in a radiantly lovely performance. The blazing colors in the closing "Pines of Rome" by Respighi made a superb contrast with the textural delicacy of "Botticelli." Its opening razzle-dazzle, ecstatic climax coming out of the depths in "The Catacombs," and gorgeous sonorities and nightingale song in "The Janiculum" led into the inexorable marching, convulsive excitement of "The Appian Way," which invariably brings an audience tumult. This time was no exception. "Linda Rogers" <[log in to unmask]>