New York Philharmonic – David Zinman, conductor; Gil Shaham, violin. March 16, 2012.

Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, Orchestra 1 (Seat T107, $70.)

Program

Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21 (1799-1800) by Beethoven (1770-1827).

Concerto funebre for Solo Violin and String Orchestra (1939, rev. 1959) by Hartmann (1905-63).

Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55, Sinfonia eroica (1802-04) by Beethoven.

Today’s concert started at 11 am, one of the several matinees NY Philharmonic will have this season.  For us, it means we had to leave a bit after 9 am.  Traffic was surprising light, we even had time to enjoy a cup of Starbuck’s before we went to the concert hall.

This is the third and last of the “Modern Beethoven” series conducted by Zinman.  While the first and third symphonies were written within a few years of each other, the difference between them was quite substantial.

The first symphony, as described by the Program Notes, is quite Haydnesuque and Mozartian.  That is especially true of the first three movements (Adagio molto – Allegro con brio; Andante cantabile con moto; and Menuetto: Allegro molto e vivace.)  Actually, the first movement could easily confuse the uneducated listener (that would be me) as being written by Mozart, light, lots of repeated notes; only give-away would be Beethoven reused the themes more than Mozart would.  However, the last movement (Finale: Adagio – Allegro molto e vivace) was definitely Beethoven.  So, instead of describing the symphony as showing Beethoven characteristics in embryonic form – as the Program Notes does – I would say in one composition Beethoven announced himself to be the radical composer that he was.  The winds play an important part in this symphony, and the audience acknowledged the great job they did when they were asked to take a bow.

The third symphony is one of Beethoven’s more popular ones, and I remember both playing it at Cornell and studying it in my theory class.  What I didn’t realize was this was the longest symphony ever written at that time.  (Beethoven’s longest has to be his ninth at about 70 minutes.)  The four movements of the symphony are: Allegro con brio; Marcia funebre: Adagio assai; Scherzo: Allegro vivace; Finale: Allegro molto – Poco andante – Presto.  The third movement had so much energy to it that a few in the audience actually applauded.  I was surprised that the fourth movement didn’t sound as familiar to me as I expected.

I was just remarking last week that the New Jersey audience was slapped in the face with a note reminding them not to applaud in between movements …

Many people know that this symphony was written with Napoleon in mind, but Beethoven got very upset when Napoleon crowned himself emperor and instead dedicated this to his patron Prince Lobkowitz.  What I didn’t know was Ludwig, Luigi, and Louis are different ways of saying the same name.  And the dedications were written in Italian – perhaps not so surprising considering they use Italian in the musical notation.

So, in the last three weeks I heard six of Beethoven’s symphonies.  I wondered at the outset if I would get an overload.  I am glad to report that I did not.  I think I am ready for the three missing.  Indeed we just got tickets for the Ninth (NJSO playing in Newark Sacred Heart Church in May.)  On the other hand, I must say I didn’t find these performances particularly inspiring; not bad, but not inspiring.  Which brings me to the series description of “Modern Beethoven.”  The New York Times reviewer said (something like) “of course no one would say the same old Beethoven.”  Actually there is nothing wrong with calling it that, or “Rediscovering Beethoven” to make it sound better.

The size of the orchestra was different for the two symphonies.  A much reduced set of string players was used for the first symphony.  I am sure one reason is that the woodwinds need to come out more; but are there others?

Beethoven composed his first eight Symphonies in the span of about 12 years, and he started to go deaf with the fourth.  I wish they had included the ninth so one could appreciate how the composer grew as a symphonic composer.

We heard the Violin Concerto by Karl Amadeus Hartmann last April with Arabella Steinbacher and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and I came away not particularly impressed.  I appreciated the composition a bit more on hearing it a second time.  What I said about the piece technically is still true, although Shaham played with a much broader dynamic range than Steinbacher did.  His Strad didn’t sound as good as I thought it should, though.  Hartmann described his work as Chorale – Adagio – Allegro – Chorale, with the last movement “the lyrical melody of the second chorale at the end has the character of a slow progress.”  Whatever that means, it shouldn't mean it would be over in two minutes, should it?

After the concert, we grabbed a light lunch at Ollie’s and made the discounted 4-hour parking window for the garage.  Coming home wasn’t a problem either.

The New York Times Review finds more connection between Beethoven and Hartmann than I could.