by Peter Feher

The Akron Symphony set last weekend’s program moving — spinning, scurrying, and leaping across the stage, even if the musicians stayed in their seats. The April 2 concert at E.J. Thomas Hall brought out the dance element in a range of orchestral works, sometimes literally. Choreography, from ballet to flamenco to traditional Korean dance, accompanied two of the evening’s pieces.

The program’s second half stayed strictly musical, with a straightforward reading of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances. Any movement that took shape came directly from the score, in the rhythms and accents the composer used to virtuosic effect in his writing for orchestra. [Read more…]