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What: Violinist David Kim performs the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Omaha Symphony.
When: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Where: Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas St.
Tickets: $30 to $75; call 345-0606
A concert violinist who doesn’t like the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto is like a painter who hates primary colors. It’s hard to get work when you’re uncomfortable with the basics.
Violinist David Kim, who solos in the Mendelssohn concerto with the Omaha Symphony this weekend, found that out last year. The Omaha Symphony wanted to know if he’d play the Mendelssohn.
“I begged them to choose another concerto,” said Kim, who was on the phone from his home near Philadelphia. “I basically thought the Mendelssohn was a lousy concerto.”
Familiarity, of course, breeds contempt, and it turns out Kim was all too familiar with the Mendelssohn.
He first encountered it as a teen, studying it in famed teacher Dorothy DeLay’s studio at the Juilliard School. As an adult, he taught it to countless students. And in his current job as concertmaster at the Philadelphia Orchestra, he has listened to countless young touring virtuosos play it.
Still, the Omaha Symphony insisted — it’s one of guest conductor Christopher Seaman’s warhorses.
And like the curmudgeon in Dr. Seuss’ “Green Eggs and Ham,” Kim tried the Mendelssohn — and liked it.
“After living with it for a while, I began to see the concerto in a new light,” he said. “For whatever reason, I just became more receptive to Mendelssohn’s radiantly beautiful melodies.”
Kim’s in a good position to appreciate beauty.
His home orchestra is famous for the “Philadelphia Sound,” a rich, ravishing string timbre that is the sonic equivalent of pure butterfat.
But in recent years, the Philadelphia Orchestra, which visited Omaha in 2007, has gone through a lot of turmoil, not to mention music directors and orchestra presidents.
Its endowment, once valued at $250 million, took a nose dive during the recent recession. Moreover, the orchestra was forced to cancel a prestigious European tour.
Philly still doesn’t have a permanent music director. But it will have a new president — Allison Vulgamore — who is leaving her post at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra to take over Philly early next year.
In the orchestra business, Vulgamore is known as a turnaround artist. After years of fiscal and artistic turmoil, Philly musicians are feeling optimistic.
“I think we’re ready to turn a corner,” Kim said.
Contact the writer:
444-1076, john.pitcher@owh.com
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