Peter Jacobi’s review in the Bloomington Herald Times is in:
The orchestra’s current music director, Charles Latshaw, was in charge, very much so, and he had invited Maxim Bernard to solo in the Schumann A minor Piano Concerto, this between two vigorous sets of dances, those from the ballet “Estancia” by Alberto Ginastera and those called Polovtsian, from the opera “Prince Igor” by Alexander Borodin.
…
In the dances from “Estancia,” particularly, the orchestra made itself proud. This paean to the gauchos, the cowboys, of Ginastera’s native Argentina reflects the broad landscape of the pampas, the loneliness of gaucho life and the frenzy that powers their day. The music is brash and evocative, qualities the orchestra nobly met.
The Polovtsian dances unfold in the second act of Borodin’s opera as the Tartars in 12th century Russia regale Prince Igor, their prisoner, with a lavish feast. The score contains exotic colors, undulating and slashing rhythms and a couple of haunting melodies. All these, Latshaw and orchestra worked very hard to capture. The performance heard was bold and distinctively stylistic.
Click to read the full article: Review-BSO-OCT-3-2009.pdf