ESO to present classic series

There's nothing like a little romantic music to soothe the soul in the wake of the area's largest winter storm.

The Elgin Symphony Orchestra is presenting French and American works on its February Classic Series concerts this weekend: the "Organ" Symphony (No. 3 in C Minor) by Camille Saint-Saëns and the "Romantic" Symphony (No. 2) by the American composer Howard Hanson.

Guest conductor Giancarlo Guerrero, newly appointed music director of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, is in charge of these concerts.

A native of Costa Rica, Guerrero's infectious, charismatic style (he sprints, rather than walks, onstage), was a hit with Friday's matinee audience.

The music fits Guerrero's energetic conducting style perfectly, with both symphonies large-scale orchestral showpieces.

As a contrast, Guerrero opened the concert with the brief "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun," by French impressionist Claude Debussy.

ESO principal flutist Jean Bishop earned a well-deserved solo bow for her interpretation of one of the signature pieces in the orchestral flute repertoire.

Hanson's Second Symphony is the best-known symphony by an American composer, although Hanson, born in Nebraska in 1896, betrays his Scandinavian heritage in this and his other compositions.

Less than a half-hour long, the "Romantic" Symphony has never lost its popularity, with its "Interlochen tune" for more than 60 years the official theme music of the National Music Camp in Interlochen, Mich.

The famous theme also is heard over the end titles of Ridley Scott's classic science-fiction film "Alien."

Saint-Saëns' "Organ Symphony" brought Friday's concert to a triumphant conclusion. Composed in 1886 with French cathedral pipe organs in mind, Hemmens Theatre has no such instrument.

However, technology in digital electronic organs has advanced to such a level that the state-of-the-art Rodgers digital organ heard this weekend is an excellent stand-in for a romantic pipe organ.

The instrument, from Elmhurst's Rodgers Organ Studios, has soloist Steve Smith at the console for these concerts. Friday, the organ blended with the orchestral fabric of the music impressively, both in the sublime second movement and the highly charged finale, during which Smith literally pulled out all the stops.

Giancarlo Guerrero adds

energy to ESO concert

Elgin Symphony Orchestra

What: Giancarlo Guerrero conducts music by Claude Debussy, Howard Hanson and Camille Saint-Saëns.

Where: Hemmens Theatre, 45 Symphony Way, Elgin

When: 8 p.m. Saturday, 3:30 p.m. Sunday

Tickets: $25-$63. Call (847) 888-4000, or visit elginsymphony.org.