My favorite part of the Fresno Philharmonic program on Saturday was the Shostakovich Symphony No. 9. To think that the subversive composer twisted this "celebratory" symphony -- meant to laud the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II -- into an impish, sardonic exercise that really ticked off Stalin is a hoot. When the trombones took off with their ominous theme midway through the piece, I thought of a huge, glowering mug of the Dear Leader staring down with disapproval, but not quite able to purge the popular Shostakovich. In the last movement, I loved how an excited Kuchar drove the orchestra forward almost as if he were a chariot driver cracking a whip. Such passion and spitfire enthusiasm seemed to infect the players, and I think everyone's pulse rate in the Saroyan rose slightly.

I thought it was sweet, too, the way Kuchar acknowledged the soloists for the piece, asking bassoonist Larry Gardner to stand and shaking his hand. Perhaps it was just coincidence that the gesture was so personal, but it also was a symbolic nod toward the tentative agreement that had been struck the night before between the orchestra's management and musicians union, of which Gardner is the president.