Boston Classical Review

Paul Polivnick conducted the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra Sunday in Newton.

It’s hardly an accepted, universal truth, but string players can make very good composers. Sunday’s strings-only concert from Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra at Newton’s Second Church emphasized that point from a couple of angles.

Of the afternoon’s four selections, half—Antonín Dvořák’s Notturno and Edward Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro—hailed from the pens of composers who played professionally (the former was a violist, the latter a violinist). The third, Adolphus Hailstork’s Sonata da Chiesa, was written by a man whose early training included violin studies.

Surprisingly, it was the afternoon’s most familiar item, Dmitri Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony, that broke the mold (the Russian master was an accomplished pianist). Ironically, too, this was the program’s only selection not originally written for string orchestra. Instead, it was adapted by Rudolf Barshai from the composer’s String Quartet No. 8 a few months after that work was completed in 1960.

For all its popularity—and Shostakovich signed off on his colleague’s undertaking—the Chamber Symphony lacks the intimacy and intensity of the original four-player work. Accordingly, though generally well-balanced, forward directed, and sensitively played, Sunday’s reading lacked a degree or two of abandon and ferocity.

One couldn’t fully fault Pro Arte or conductor Paul Polivnick for that situation. True, parts of the second movement felt a touch restrained and the fourth might have benefited from more tonal variety. But the pairing navigated the music’s fast passagework with creditable spirit and brought stirring soulfulness to the concluding Largo.

The rest of the program was handled with admirable panache.

Hailstork’s Sonata da Chiesa pays tribute to the composer’s fascination with cathedrals, as well as his experience in church music. The 1992 score’s seven movements run without pause, alternating between snapping rhythms and expansive, probing lyricism.

Throughout, Hailstork’s command of his materials, both instrumental and thematic, is total. This is a work of real craftsmanship and heart; none of its ideas overstay their welcomes or underwhelm. What’s more, all of the transitions—even relatively obvious ones (like the “Dona Nobis Pacem’s” shift from darkness to light)—are handled discreetly.

Sunday’s account captured each of those spots well. It also mixed episodes of ecstatic radiance in the framing “Exultate” sections and central “Jubilate” with moments of touching contemplation. The “Adoro” movement unfolded like a sweet, pure hymn. Meanwhile, the “Agnus Dei” was a model of expansive warmth and beauty.

A similar compositional rigor marks Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro. Premiered in 1905 and modeled on the Baroque concerto grosso, the score embeds a solo string quartet within a larger collective.

Pro Arte’s rendition featured a chamber group drawn from the orchestra’s ranks. Together, violinists Jeff Pearson and Colin Davis, violist Anne Black, and cellist Steven Laven formed a well-blended unit that, when called for, stood out effectively against the concertante group—but at other junctures meshed well with it.

Polivnick’s approach to the score underlined its essentially passionate nature while ensuring that textures remained lean and the performance never bogged down, rhythmically. Indeed, the central fugue was particularly well-balanced and, throughout, there was a strong sense of each of the music’s lines understanding exactly when they should speak out and where they ought to go.

In contrast, Dvořák’s Notturno was the afternoon’s least persuasive offering. Though its static first part eventually ceded way to writing that recalled the composer’s charming first Serenade, there is not much compelling melodic interest—a rarity for the Czech composer—and the coda doesn’t know when to stop. 

Even so, Polivnick and Pro Arte delivered a shapely account that, though dogged by some extraneous noises in and just outside the church’s sanctuary, still charmed the ear.

The Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra presents music by Jonathan Bailey Holland and Brahms 3 p.m. May 17 at Cary Hall, Lexington. proarte.org

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