Texas Classical Review

The Dallas Symphony Orchestra and guest conductor Sebastian Weigle hosted violinist María Dueñas for a scintillating performance of Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Violin Concerto in D Major Friday night. The program served as an epilogue for the season following the DSO’s spectacular presentation of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony two weeks ago.

The evening began with Korngold’s  Straussiana, which comprised three dances from selected operas by Johann Strauss, Jr. retooled by Korngold: the “Pizzicato Polka” from Fürstin Ninetta, a mazurka from Cogliostro in Wien, and a waltz from Ritter Pázmán. Weigle’s direction brought out the inherent charm of the piece, emphasizing the delicate articulation of the polka and the more leisurely tempo of the mazurka before settling into the Straussian sumptuousness of the concluding waltz.

Maria Dueñas has received accolades including the Opus Klassik award as Young Artist of the Year in 2025 and Instrumentalist of the Year at the 2025 Gramophone Classical Music Awards for her recent recordings.

Dueñas dazzled throughout the Korngold Violin Concerto that followed; the full rich tone of her instrument was suitably pensive during more lyrical moments while her more virtuosic passages maintained a singing quality despite their ardent vigor.  

Indeed, Dueñas dominated the first two movements, acting as the principal rhythmic impetus and the melodic focus for both while the orchestra accompanied her with long stretches of sustained harmonies, adding occasional interjections of sparkling harp and celesta to further enhance the exotic character of her melodies that reflected their cinematic sources.

For the finale, the orchestra asserted itself as a force equal to the soloist, taking up the soloist’s insistent rhythms and sharing and exchanging the soloist’s galloping principal theme, ultimately presenting it in grand, sweeping statements. Yet Weigle appeared to have a bit of difficulty matching Dueñas’s energy during the buildup to the closing cadence. 

Dueñas’s verve carried over into her encore, her own arrangement of Agustín Lara’s song, “Granada,” which she performed with harpist Emily Levin.

Dvořák’s Seventh Symphony comprised the second half of the program.  Often described as stormy in character, the opening of the first movement by the DSO sounded curiously relaxed, almost as if hearkening back to the first two movements of the Korngold Violin Concerto. As the movement progressed, Weigle became more animated, instilling the DSO’s performance with the urgency and gravitas demanded by Dvořák’s themes, which were further enhanced by singular contributions from Daniel Hawkins’s horn, and the front-desk woodwinds. With the Adagio movement, Weigle struck the appropriate character, wresting a yearning intensity from the strings through successive crescendos.

Weigle maintained the seriousness through the Scherzo, allowing a lightening of intensity in the trio for contrast. The finale t brought a return of passionate playing.  Under Weigle’s direction, successive choirs of the DSO took up the angular principal theme, carrying it relentlessly and majestically forward, augmented by resplendent brass, leading to the symphony’s triumphant conclusion.

The program will be repeated 7:30 pm Saturday. dallassymphony.org