Thursday, June 07, 2012

Tonhalle Orchestra - Giovanni Antonini, conductor. June 6, 2012.


Tonhalle, Zurich, Switzerland.  Main Floor (Row 25, Seat 586, CHF 85.)

Program
Concerto in G minor RV 576 for Violin, Oboe and Orchestra by Vivaldi (1678-1741).
Artists: George-Cosmin Banica, violin; Simon Fuchs, oboe; Giovanni Antonini, recorder; Elaine Frankhauser, alto-recorder; Emanuele Forni, lute.
Concerto in E minor RV464 for Bassoon and Orchestra by Vivaldi.
Artists: Matthew Racz, bassoon; Emanuele Forni, lute.
Symphony in G minor KV183 by Mozart (1756-1791).
Symphony No. 1 in C major Op. 21 by Beethoven (1770-1827).

We actually tried to go for another Zurich performance (La Boheme) on June 5, 2012.  We knew we wouldn’t have a lot of spare time, coming back from Zermatt that afternoon.  Indeed we missed the 1:49 pm train and thus had to take the 2:49 pm which got in at around 6 pm.  It became quite impossible, what with trying to find our bearings in the city, and checking into the hotel.  Well …

Tonhalle is reasonably easy to get to from the hotel, two tram rides and a short walk at both ends, about 30 minutes in total.  It is ornately decorated, seats 1455, and was inaugurated in 1895 by Brahms.  For tonight the hall was perhaps 85% to 90% full.  Considering Zurich is a city of about 350,000 (metropolitan area about 1 million), and that this program is repeated three times (one abbreviated), this is not bad at all.

The acoustics turned out to be quite good.  The orchestra size for the Vivaldi pieces was small, so the thought “Orpheus” came immediately to mind.  Even though Antonini played the recorder, he also doubled as the conductor for the piece.  The balance was quite good, except the two recorders by nature sound quite soft, so sometimes difficult to hear.  The performance was quite animated, and quite enjoyable.  The three movements are Allegro, Larghetto, and Allegro.

A program costs CHF 5, which is not unreasonable, but we didn’t get one since it is in Swiss (that would be German for this part of Switzerland).  What is unreasonable is they didn’t even hand out a small flyer listing the program and the musicians.  I also think the artists should protest as it takes a lot to get onto an international stage, and people end up saying “I really enjoyed the music but I don’t know who played in the concert.”

I did know from the posters I saw that Mozart and Beethoven were also on the program.  So I naturally thought the next piece was by Mozart.  After a while I decided it sounded too baroque, and without repeated notes, so it had to be Vivaldi again.  The bassoonist was certainly very energetic, and there are some very difficult passages that he nailed – most of the time anyway.  What I found surprising was how low the bassoon sounded.  The definitive bassoon passage for me is the one from “The Rite of Spring,” which sounds at least an octave higher.  The movements are Allegro poco, Andante, and Allegro.

The symphony by Mozart (his 25th) was reasonably familiar, and the orchestra played it well.  From my college days I have thought of Mozart as “Master of the Repeated Note,” not necessary a term of praise.  After listening to this symphony I must add the title “Master of the Repetition.”  Definitely not a term of praise.  The symphony itself is quite short at 25 or so minutes, so without the repeats it may only be 15 minutes long.  The four movements are Allegro con brio, Andante, Menuetto – Trio, and Allegro.  Evidently I was wrong in thinking Beethoven invented the term “Allegro con brio.”  Of course there is “con brio” and there is “CON BRIO.”

We heard Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 recently, as part of the New York Philharmonic “Modern Beethoven” series, conducted by of all people Tonhalle’s Music Director David Zinman.  Since I went to three of these concerts at two different locations, I don’t remember if I heard it in NJPAC or Avery Fisher (I am in a plane as I type this.)  I don’t remember enjoying that performance as much as this one.  One possible reason is that I was “Beethovened-out” by the time I heard this with the New York Philharmonic, even though I didn’t feel it at the time; or tonight’s was simply a better performance.  In any case, for me this reconfirms my earlier observation that Beethoven defined himself as a romantic composer with this work instead of showing signs of transitioning into a romantic composer.  For the record, the movements are (i) Adagio molto – Allegro con brio; (ii) Andante cantabile con moto; (iii) Menuetto: Allegro molto e vivace; and (iv) Finale: Adagio – Allegro molto e vivace. [Note: We heard it in Avery Fisher.]

There were eight first violins and two double basses used in this symphony.  The orchestra’s roster lists 21 first violins and 8 double basses, which actually shocked me a little bit.  My understanding is a lot of European countries heavily subsidize their artistic organizations, perhaps this is a symptom of that?

In any event, we got out at around 9:30 pm and it was still light outside.  We were back in our hotel at around 10 pm.

No comments: