Evocative recollections of Ellis Island

From its opening video images of immigrants arriving at Ellis Island to the final shots of the Statue of Liberty, Peter Boyer’s “Ellis Island: The Dream of America” is a work of rare authenticity and directness.

The 45-minute piece, which embeds seven first-person narratives from the Ellis Island Oral History Project in a stream of evocative music, was performed movingly by Carl St.Clair and Orange County’s Pacific Symphony on Saturday at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine.

Olympia Dukakis, one of the seven actors on the recent Naxos “American Classics” recording, was scheduled to appear, but had to withdraw because of a family medical emergency.

Actress Concetta Tomei stepped up to the plate on 48 hours’ notice. She and Barry Bostwick, another of the Naxos actors, brought each first-person experience to vivid life.

The model is Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait,” with its narration drawn from poet and Lincoln biographer Carl Sandburg. Boyer’s music may not rise to Copland’s level, but it does the job with consistent emotional sweep. The composer also picked and edited the narratives.

Ultimately, though, what gives the work its great power are those historical photos, which reveal compelling grit and character, and the narratives, which are so intensely honest and personal.

The concert also presented the local debut of Alexander Kobrin, gold medal winner of the 2005 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, as the soloist in Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.”

The modest and serious 25-year-old Russian could pass as a Harry Potter look-alike, but stylistically he bounded out of the gate like a high-spirited thoroughbred, challenging St.Clair and the orchestra to keep up. (They did, with consummate professionalism.)

It was impossible to accurately assess his command of nuance and color through the amplification at an outdoor concert. Reports from the Fort Worth-based competition indicate he has this talent, abundantly.

But here he seemed more effective in passages of bravura, brilliance and precision than in exploring lyricism or personal expression.

Cliburn Competition winners have a mixed track record at making careers. There are no guarantees. But Kobrin is worth watching.

St.Clair opened the program with a spirited account of the Overture to Glinka’s “Russlan and Ludmilla.”-