New York Philharmonic – Ivan Fischer, guest conductor; Leonidas Kavakos, Violin. 12/3/2005.

Avery Fischer Hall at Lincoln Center; Second Tier, Seat DD16.

Program

Romanian Folk Dances, BB 76 (1915; orch 1917) by Bartok (1881-1945).
L’Arbre des songes Violin Concerto (1979-85) by Henri Dutilleux (b. 1916).
Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27 (1906-08) by Rachmaninoff (1873-1943).

We decided to attend this concert at the last minute since we had no plans for the rest of the evening after seeing the opera Carmen. I was not familiar with any of the pieces on the program this evening, so I was reading up on the program notes feverishly when we got into our seats. Perhaps the New York Philharmonic should consider putting up some season-appropriate music for this time of the year, but in any case, I was glad to have attended this concert. The concert hall was fuller than usual, no doubt with attendance boosted by the many tourists that are in the area during the Christmas season.

I didn’t know much about the conductor or the soloist. Fischer was born in Budapest in 1951, plays several instruments, studied in Vienna, and made his US debut with the LA Philharmonic in 1983. His current “regular” job appears to be the principal guest conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. He certainly impressed with the ability to conduct the Rachmaninoff symphony (which was 56 minutes long) without music. Kavakos was born in Athens and is in his late 30s. He plays the 1692 “Falmouth” Stradivarius. The violin has a nice sound but does not project as well as some of the later Strads; this would prove to be a problem with a large orchestra and the demands of the piece.

It took more time to read the program notes on Bartok’s piece than to listen to it. The piece lasted all of 7 minutes and contains 7 different folk dances. I never know what to expect with Bartok, but I didn’t expect a “traditional” symphony orchestra with the absence of a percussion section. Perhaps it’s because the dances were orchestrated from his original work for the piano. The Stick Dance (Allegro moderato) defined the folksiness of the suite (without percussion), and is followed by the Sash Dance (Allegro) which was even shorter in duration. In One Spot (Andante) spotlighted the flute which played notes of a limited range, and the Horn Dance (Moderato) had a violin (not horn!) solo by Sheryl Staples that was done quite well. Staples had quite a few solo lines this evening and they were all done superbly. The Romanian Polka (Allegro) was fast paced. The simple, pleasant suite concluded with a couple of satisfying Fast Dances (L’istesso tempo, Allegro vivace).

The program quotes Dutilleux’s description of the violin concerto “as a piece that grows somewhat like a tree, for the constant multiplication and renewal of its branches is the lyrical essence of the tree. This symbolic image, as well as the notion of a seasonal cycle, inspired my choice of L’Arbre des songes as the title of the piece.” The four movements (Freely, Quick, Slow and Broad & Animated) are linked by three interludes.

This is one of the few concerto performances where the soloists need the music. And needed it he did: he seemed to be glued to it the whole time. The piece was quite chaotic, whether by design or from lack of practice, I don’t know. But I am sure the soloist was tuning his violin out loud during the third movement, and it wasn’t part of the plan. Nonetheless it sounded as if it belonged, so out of control was that part of the piece. The timpanist was surrounded by seven drums, although I’m not sure he used them all. During the fourth movement the violin was completely overwhelmed by the orchestra for several minutes before it regained its balance. At other times I felt the violinist was playing the piece like an etude.

The violin concerto is clearly written for the virtuoso, but is it good music? The program notes evoke Van Gogh’s Road with Cypress and Star. There may be glimpses of growth of branches in the piece, but most of the time it makes one think of wild weeds. Kovakos has won Sibelius and Paganini competitions, any piece by one of those composers would have been welcome.

I didn’t remember having heard any of Rachmaninoff’s Symphonies before. I have since discovered all three of his symphonies on my iPod, I guess that still doesn’t mean I have heard it before. This symphony is quite long at close to one hour and contributes to its not being heard often in live concerts. Rachmaninoff was so wounded by the unkind reviews of his first symphony (1897) that he needed the help of daily hypnosis sessions by a physician before he would start writing again. The second symphony was completed about 10 years later, and was received enthusiastically at its Moscow debut conducted by the composer himself.

The symphony contains quite a few solo phrases by various instruments and they were all done very well. The only movement I was vaguely familiar with was the third (Adagio), although I am not sure it’s from a CD I own or it was used in a movie. In general, the symphony contains nice melodies, highlights the different orchestral instruments appropriately, and has a nice structure to it. I don’t know my musicology well enough to know if any new composition ground was broken, it sounded traditional enough, especially for the time it was written.

Fischer conducted in an animated manner, and pointed to the different orchestral sections with conviction. He seems to be able to bring out the right sounds from the orchestra, although every now and then the performance was a bit chaotic.

All things considered, it was a pleasant concert. I would still prefer “simpler” holiday fare for this time of the year though.

See also the New York Times review of an earlier performance of the concert. The reviewer obviously appreciated the Dutilleux piece much more than I did.