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.
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