This homecoming should be seen as a crowning achievement in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Cellist Arkady Orlovsky laughed heartily as he made the suggestion. But the man who conducted the Columbus Symphony Orchestra from 1992 to 2009 made a serious point — a point when mentioning that he will play Robert Schumann’s daunting Cello Concerto for the mostly volunteer, local ensemble at Sunday’s season-opening concert.
“It’s a big challenge, first of all, because I am 80 years old,” Orlovsky said, speaking by phone from his home in Brooklyn, New York. “And this is one of the best and most difficult concertos.”
That work and Maurice Ravel’s classic “Bolero” will be among featured pieces when the symphony launches its new season “Poise, Passion and Power” at 3:30 p.m. Sunday at The Commons downtown. This marks Orlovsky’s third appearance with the group since he retired locally and as principal cellist with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.
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While he was the leader, he and pianist-wife Tamara Orlovsky worked together at one concert per season. And the cellist acknowledged he misses his time locally.
“I have so many wonderful memories there,” he said.
Orlovsky told current symphony Music Director Josh Aerie that allowing him to perform the piece could be Orlovsky’s 80th birthday present.
“It’s certainly in the top tier of cello concertos,” Aerie said. “And the fact that he’s playing it with us at age 80 is indeed remarkable and is a testament to his mastery of the instrument. And it’s a great way to kick off our new season.”
Aerie said that a large part of the new season will focus on a theme of familiar faces. And Orlovsky certainly fits that. Only Dale Spurlock, who conducted until 1992, spent more time at the CSO helm than Orlovsky in the more modern age. Before that, orchestra founder Chester Kitzinger led the ensemble for nearly half a century, though it was a strings group and not a full orchestra for many years.
Aerie has nudged the symphony to try more nontraditional and more demanding pieces since he assumed leadership in 2015. He understands that “Bolero” is so well known that it has worked its way into pop culture through the years, including becoming the centerpiece in a romantic interlude in the 1979 mainstream movie “10” starring Bo Derek and Dudley Moore.
Plus, it has been the soundtrack for a number of Olympic skaters.
“It’s a real tour-de-force for an orchestra, especially in the sense that it gradually builds from solo instruments (playing) right up to the entire ensemble,” Aerie said. “And it definitely shows off the orchestra in a way that really very few pieces can.”
French horn player Josh Goodman is excited to see the orchestra tackle “Bolero” as an indication of its growth and maturity since Aerie was hired.
“It’s a pretty intense program overall,” Goodman said. “Each piece offers some really challenging parts about it. But I think this just shows really how far the orchestra has come in the last few years.”
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What: The Columbus Symphony Orchestra’s season-opening concert featuring veteran cellist and former Music Director Arkady Orlovsky performing Robert Schumann’s Cello Concerto in A Minor; Maurice Ravel’s "Bolero" and "Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes" by Carl Maria Von Weber.
When: 3:30 p.m. Sunday.
Where: The Commons, 300 Washington St. in downtown Columbus.
Admission: $10 for adults and $5 for students and senior citizens, available at the door or at csoindiana.org. Those younger than 12 are admitted free when accompanied by a paying adult.
Information: csoindiana.org
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