BUTLER TWP — Magnificent is the exact word for the “Magnificent Russians” concert by the Butler County Symphony Orchestra Saturday evening at the Butler Intermediate School auditorium.

Filled with glorious, yet popular melodies, the musical selections led by Maestro Matthew Kraemer and fronted by brilliant young pianist Sean Chen were an excellent opening concert for the orchestra.

Chen set the tone from the very first pensive notes which hung in the air like the calm before a storm.

And the storm was soon to follow as the pianist’s interpretation of Piano Concerto No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninov surged into quick, powerful, fury then abated into calm, tender romantic themes.

The so-called Rach 2, typified by radical changes of volume and tempo, was like hearing the ebb and flow of the ocean during a tempest.

The Rach 2 is a three-movement work that has been adapted to popular music over the generations thereby making it accessible to those uninitiated to classical music.

Many of the audience members caught themselves smiling to unexpectedly familiar songs such as “All by Myself” and “Never Gonna Fall in Love Again” which were popular in the 1970s but had their birth in the Adagio sostenuto movement.

The third movement, Allegro scherzando, featured a melancholy melody that became the very popular “Full Moon and Empty Arms.”

Chen’s exquisite touch and understanding of the score enabled him to draw the most from each radical change with precision and artistry.

The orchestra enhanced the piano line without overpowering it and matched his pace to perfection. The final movement filled the auditorium with lightning and thunder in the form of wild cadenzas then ended with a final vibrant reprise of the “Full Moon” theme, bringing the audience to its feet in a spontaneous ovation.

The second half of the program was devoted to Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade” Symphonic Suite, Op 35. Lush and exotic, the four-movement suite is a favorite due to its own lovely melodies and strong rhythmic changes.

The first movement, commonly known as The Sea and Sinbad’s Ship” opened with a series of portentous chords, contrasted by lyrical woodwinds.

Concertmaster Tanya Satteson and harpist Julia Scott then established the wistful Scheherazade theme which would reoccur with variations throughout all the movements of the piece.

The Kalendar Prince was appropriately threatening but retained oriental harmonies. The Young Prince and the Young Princess featured a lush, rich melody that was also somehow youthful and optimistic. It swirled like silks in a windstorm.

The final movement, opened with a repeat of the opening theme which allowed Satteson to show off her bowing skills as the Festival of Baghdad section danced to a frantic climax and then returned to simplicity as it drifted off, dreamlike to the work’s conclusion.

The concert was under-attended, but those who were there left the hall knowing that they had experienced true magnificence.