New York Philharmonic – Alan Gilbert, Conductor; Joshua Bell, violin. May 5, 2009.

Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, Orchestra 4 Rear (Seat KK12, $52).

Program
Zlaty kolovrat (The Golden Spinning Wheel), Symphonic Poem, Op. 109 (1896) by Dvorak (1841-1904)
Violin Concerto No. 3 in B minor, Op. 61 (1880) by Saint-Saens (1835-1921)
Symphony No. 4, H. 305 (1945) by Martinu (1890-1959)

We decided to drive in, and took the Holland Tunnel because Lincoln was reported to be congested. It took only about 90 minutes for me to get Anne at Rahway and then get to Lincoln Center. And the return home was without any problem either.

Alan Gilbert, of course, is the conductor-designate of the New York Philharmonic. We have heard his name for a while by now, but tonight was to be our first time watching him conduct. Thus we went to this concert with a bit of anticipation.

Tonight's concert consisted of a violin concerto in the standard virtuoso repertoire and two little-played pieces by two Bohemian-born composers, one well-known. Indeed the pieces were each played only once before by the New York Philharmonic. The Dvorak piece in 1932, the Martinu piece in 1986.

The Golden Spinning Wheel is based on a grisly story (poem) written by Czech poet Erben: Dornicka's step-mother and step-sister kill her so the king can be deceived into marrying the step-sister. While the king goes to war, a mysterious old man gets the young queen to exchange the body parts she took and restores Dornicka to life. The golden spinning wheel the young queen gets, however, creeks out a song describing the crime. The step-sister and step-mother are thrown to the wolves and the king and her true wife are re-united. The Program Notes reassure the reader that the story is easy to follow; and one can indeed hear how the story unfolds. I find the piece a bit straight-forward and uninspiring. Even though there are interesting themes here and there, the overall lack of structure and dynamics make the piece an overall disappointment.

I know the violin concerto quite well, but Anne was uncharacteristically not very familiar with it. It is a virtuoso piece of the highest order. Bell acquitted himself very well, putting in an admirable performance. Surprisingly there were slight intonation problems every now and then, and some of the runs and arpeggios were a bit muddled. The second movement was taken at an uncharacteristically fast pace, but it worked quite well. The orchestra is always overshadowed by a piece like this, but to the extent one pays attention to it, one would find a great performance as well. We were seated at the rear of the orchestra section, so even the 1713 "Gibson ex Huberman" Stradivarius sometimes sounded weak. The three movements of the concerto are (i) Allegro non troppo; (ii) Andantino quasi allegretto; and (iii) Molto moderato e maestoso - Allegro non troppo. The program notes mention that Bell is now on the faculty of Univ of Indiana as a senior lecturer. One would think he would get a higher-ranked appointment than that, or does Indiana have extremely high standards?

I am quite sure I had never heard of Bohuslav Martinu before, although he was a very prolific composer. Tonight's symphony consists of four movements: (i) Poco moderato; (ii) Allegro vivo - Trio: Moderato - Allegro vivo; (iii) Largo; and (iv) Poco allegro. It was written just as World War II was won, and supposedly reflects the joy felt by the composer who fled Europe to the United States. I didn't quite know what to expect, but was surprised that it didn't sound as contemporary as one would expect of work composed in 1945. The structures of the movements were "classical" in the sense that one could hear themes, developments, etc. Viewed from that perspective, however, then there is no comparison with the popular masterpiece symphonies. I find the piece limited in its dynamic, chromatic, and emotional range.

Gilbert appears to be an energetic and precise conductor with his particular set of gestures. The orchestra seems to respond well, and tonight did an admirable job. However, the programming leaves quite a bit to be desired. I don't have a problem with seldom-heard pieces (even though oftentimes pieces are unpopular for good reasons), but I hope they are not included in a program for that reason alone.

The audience gave Gilbert an enthusiastic response. The New York Times review describes the performance using words and phrases like "engrossing", "radiant" and "so far, so good." For me, alas, the jury is still out.