New York Philharmonic - Sir Colin Davis, Conductor; Radu Lupu, Piano, Thomas Stacy, English Horn. March 31, 2007.

Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center - Third Tier Box 10R6 ($30).

Program
Piano Concerto in B-flat major, K. 595 (1790-91) by Mozart (1756-91).
Lemminkainen Suite, Op. 22 (various) by Sibelius (1865-1957).

We attended tonight's concert at the suggestion of our friend. He claims Radu Lupu plays great Mozart. The other part of the program was going to be Sibelius's Lemminkainen Suite. I had heard a movement from the Suite about a year ago and was not particularly impressed. So there was both anticipation and dread towards the concert.

The Mozart piano concerto was written less than a year before Mozart died, although scholars doubt very much it indicates any knowledge of the composer's sad demise. The concerto contains the traditional movements (Allegro, Larghetto, and Allegro). Indeed Lupu played very well. Compared to Uchida, whom I heard a week ago, his phrasing was crisp, and the use of pedal was minimal (I detected it only during the cadenza). Now, I am no pianist, nor am I a Mozart scholar, so I honestly can't tell one great performance from another. Nonetheless, both a doctoral student at Julliard and her mother tell me the phrasing and balance are just exquisite. I will have to take their word for it. In contrast, the orchestra was a bit sloppy. No doubt more rehearsal time with the guest conductor Colin Davis would have helped.

The Lemminkainen Suite consists of four movements composed during various times. They are: (i) Lemminkainen and the Maidens of the Island (1895, rev. 1897/1939), (ii) The Swan of Tuonela (1895, rev. 1897/1900), (iii) Lemminkainen in Tuonela (1893, rev. 1879/1939) and (iv) Lemminaiken's Return (1895, rev. 1897/1900).

I enjoyed the Suite much more this time than the last, which I characterized as “forgettable.” Perhaps it was due to the seat. Although we sat in a third tier box and had only a partial view of the stage, the acoustics was quite good. Another factor could be when the entire Suite is played, there was more context to understand the music with. Even the Swan movement came across quite well. Although we had to lean forward to see Thomas Stacy, the sound of the English Horn came through very well. Overall, the music is quite uplifting, especially by Sibelius's standard.

A word on the conductor. He is about 80 years old (born 1927), and still stands straight and conduct vigorously. Impressive.