Lasting Impressions: Fenimore Chamber Orchestra Opens Season to Capacity Crowd

October 9, 2025

By Karolina Hopper
Freeman's Journal and Hometown Oneonta

Fenimore Chamber Orchestra made a very welcome return to Cooperstown, presenting the opening concert of the 2025-2026 season on September 6 at Christ Church. The entire afternoon was poignant indeed. In his remarks before the concert began, and considering the attack on the arts that seems to be prevalent these days, Thomas Wolf, chair of the FCO Governing Board, made very salient commentary on the situation and expressed the importance of the art of philanthropic giving for the arts. His commentary was met with loud applause.

The concert then began with Mozart’s First Symphony; yes, his very first symphony, composed when he was only 8 years old! The symphony itself is well-known enough among music lovers and, while not the last word in originality, it is nevertheless astonishing in its poise and deep craftsmanship. It is written in a very elegant style, which is aimed at charming and delighting an audience rather than, as the program notes suggest, dazzling them. Given the performance and the exceeding and customary high standard of playing by the orchestra, the work was raised to being something much more than fluff. It is clearly constructed and concise, and the orchestra responded to it with breathtaking beauty, almost as if giving a nod to the young composer to keep on.

The most awaited work on the program was the Concerto for Double Bass by Giovanni Battista Cimador. All one can say is, who knew? Cimador was born in Venice during the 1790s, could be considered somewhat of a contemporary of Mozart’s and is today known only as a footnote in history. Too bad, because if the concerto is an example of his work, posterity has indeed been missing out. The work itself sounds almost modern in style. Certainly, the virtuosity required must have helped redefine the bass instrument’s popularity. Everything that could be written has been to show off the considerable technique of the soloist. David Irvin more than met the stupefying challenges; he created music as well as showing off a formidable, at times astonishing, technique. His sense of legato was also a great pleasure to hear. If that were not enough, Principal Oboe Randall Ellis offered an ineffably beautiful and expressive solo in the second movement. Mr. Irvin was greeted, deservedly so, with a standing ovation. He offered an encore of Fauré’s “Après un rêve” in an original orchestration by Maciej Żółtowski and was awarded another storm of applause and flowers.

The final work on the program was Haydn’s Symphony No. 49. The title, “La Passione,” was not Haydn’s own, likely arriving via a copyist or a publisher. Once heard, the title fits perfectly. Composed in 1768, the symphony is a prime example of Haydn’s newly found expressive freedom, including a rather darker side. The symphony can also be called the beginning of Haydn’s “Storm and Stress” period; less of polite smiles than of furrowed brows and clenched fists. The orchestra played, not surprisingly, as to the manner born. Haydn is not for everyone and can seem merely quaint in the wrong hands. Here, no such worries were at hand. The Haydn, as well as the entire concert, was the result of the tireless work of building Fenimore Chamber Orchestra into the expressive instrument it has become by Artistic Director Maciej Żółtowski. The capacity audience greeted the afternoon with a prolonged ovation.

Karolina Hopper is a freelance contributor to “The Freemans’ Journal” and “Hometown Oneonta.”

POSTED October 9, 2025, Freeman's Journal and Hometown Oneonta