Las Vegas is full of visiting and resident musical acts that are past their prime. Acclaimed pianist Orion Weiss isn't one of them. Weiss was guest soloist with the Las Vegas Philharmonic this evening and the star of the show.

Now that I've offered that little teaser, I'll save the details for later. I learned that from television news, where they say, "Coming up: a woman who was arrested for running naked through downtown," and then run the story last so you'll watch the whole program. I'm no fool.

Don't worry - you get Mozart while you're waiting. Wolfgang Amadeus was a rising star about the age of four. By the time he wrote his 'Symphony No. 25 in G Minor', he had attained the advanced age of seventeen. Born and raised in Salzburg, Austria, Mozart wrote this work after a visit to Vienna, where he was influenced by the recent music of Franz Josef Haydn being performed there. I've said before that Mozart has a very distinctive sound, but this symphony is something of a departure from the earlier norm.

Associate Conductor Richard McGee wrote in tonight's program that the first movement starts with a sense of urgency and sounds "almost menacing" at times. I heard the urgency, but - Mozart, menacing? It seems to me you need tympani drums for that, and Mozart used no percussion at all in this symphony. This contributes to the wonderful sense of constant, flowing motion that is so representative of the composer's style. True, it was as "dark" as any Mozart I've heard, but I still pictured aristocrats dancing. This time the dance was held after a stock-market crash.

This symphony makes use of only about half of the Philharmonic's musicians. The second movement, slow and melancholy, backs the lovely string melody with the low resonance of three string basses and six cellos, enriched with the woody texture of two bassoons. The third movement is a minuet, normally a lighthearted dance section in ¾ time - like a waltz with half the calories. This one sounded far sadder than other Mozart minuets - the Vienna Stock Exchange must have really taken a beating - and the movement rolled along very steadily and ended without any excitement. The fourth movement had most of the intensity of the first but was sharper and brighter; it sounded a bit like marching music. It, too, was very consistent in its mood but ended with a moderate crescendo and ritard.

The overriding characteristic of Symphony No. 25 is its lack of highs and lows, even by Mozart's standard. He reportedly was influenced by other composers' music during his Vienna visit, but it couldn't have been Haydn's 'Surprise Symphony' that he heard.

Take a deep breath and say "Paul Hindemith's 'Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber.'" Classical composers were into recycling long before the term "environmentalism" became hip. Many have written "Variations on a theme by (insert ripped-off composer's name here)." This composer's work ended up a "metamorphosis" because it was started as a ballet based on Weber themes but evolved into a concert piece during its creation. Hindemith, who made his way to the States after getting kicked out of Nazi Germany, premiered the piece in New York in 1944.

The first movement of "Metamorphosis" is a march derived from a piano duet. How creative is that! Its sound varies from triumphant to urgent to slightly farcical - at times reminding me of Carl Stalling's wonderful "Looney Tunes" music. (See, I can be creative, too.) The second movement is based on part of Weber's opera 'Turandot' and changes moods faster than a manic depressive: low, quick violins like buzzing bees, alternating with almost-playful horn solos and duets, building in urgency to a huge brass fanfare, then back to quiet urgency, this time on the woodwinds with some terrific high notes on the bassoons. It crescendoed into blaring horns and trilling winds, only to die off and end on a low, solemn horn note.

This whole piece made excellent use of solo instruments, particularly winds. In the beautiful third movement, solo clarinet was backed by a soaring flute part that lasted until I was sure the flutist would faint. Gorgeous! The final movement, another march, was quick and light, and it reminded me of Alexander Borodin's 'In the Steppes of Central Asia', only faster - as if the Silk Road traders were hoofing it to reach Tashkent by dusk. Then a horn fanfare ushered in a lively, galloping section led by the woodwinds (it gets dark quickly in the Steppes). A tense, brooding section with a quiet snare drum built into a grand, majestic ending with three powerful low notes. This march is really a standout piece and has been featured on its own in concert performances. I'm amazed that Hindemith could get such a variety from a piano duet theme.

Okay, now we can focus on the naked woman - I mean, the young pianist. Orion Weiss has already built a reputation for expressive musical interpretation backed by tremendous technical skill. My first surprise was that the Philharmonic brought in this rock-star soloist and then played a piece of music that often used him as an ensemble member. Piano concertos tend to alternate between spectacular piano solos and fill-in music from the "backup band," but Johannes Brahms' 'Piano Concerto in D Minor' sounds more like a well-developed symphony with the piano playing alongside the strings or winds. My second surprise was my great enjoyment of this unfamiliar style.

The first movement of this very long concerto started with intense but beautiful orchestral play, eventually calming to allow the piano to sneak in as an ensemble instrument. Later, the first solo was played sedately and with wonderful finesse by Orion, and faded out gracefully as the winds took over. I sensed a reversal of the usual roles: instead of the orchestra playing the transitions between piano solos, Orion's parts sounded more like the transitions. There were a few bursts of tremendous virtuosity on the keys in the first movement, but my favorite part was some very soft solo French horn over an atmospheric piano background.

The second movement featured some lovely, serene piano work, and the low strings contrasted it with a rather tense, unsettled sound. Picture a picnic in the sun with dark clouds looming on the horizon. This movement seemed too long, considering the sameness of its mood.

The piano opened the final movement and then remained the dominant instrument in more traditional concerto style. This rondo featured a great many tempo changes and short, intense piano solos separated by equally intense orchestral transitions. Orion flew up and down the keyboard and made it look effortless. The movement ended with a big orchestral crescendo, and without the piano. Brahms' blending of the piano into the ensemble reportedly resulted in a disappointing premiere in 1859, as a surprised audience felt that the piano was being underutilized. I liked the balance of this piece, however, since it didn't underutilize the Philharmonic itself. Judging by the wild applause, tonight's crowd wasn't disappointed, either.

Orion Weiss was the toast of the crowd this evening - even if he wasn't quite old enough to drink a toast with the rest of us. At least he's old enough to drive the grand prize in the Philharmonic's Jaguar Raffle (check the Phil's site to see if tickets are still available.) I hope we'll see Orion again soon in Las Vegas, but he's got a long way to go before his star begins to wane.

— Reviewed February 22, 2003 by Robert LaGrone, Jetsetters Magazine Las Vegas Entertainment Editor.