New York Philharmonic – Alan Gilbert, conductor; Liang Wang, oboe. November 15, 2013.

Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center.  Orchestra (Seat Q19, $41.)

Program

Don Juan, Op. 20 (1888) by R. Strauss (1864-1949).

Oboe Concerto (2004) by Christopher Rouse (b. 1949).

Also sprach Zarathustra, Tone Poem for Large Orchestra, Op. 30 (1895-1896) by Strauss.

Speaking of shallow, I wanted to go to this concert because of the first few measures of “Also sprach” which was made famous by the film 2001: A Space Odyssey.  The part played in the film is about 1:30 minutes in length.  That discounted tickets were offered on Goldstar clinched it.  Anne, ever the trooper, agreed to come along even though she had to rush out after her class.

A review of my prior blog entries confirmed that I had listened to Don Juan before.  While today’s performance didn’t leave me awed, it was certainly quite well performed – I called the September 24, 2010 performance “muddled and chaotic.”  I still couldn’t figure out how many women were depicted in the composition, though.

Rouse is in his second year as composer-in-residence at the Philharmonic.  This oboe concerto was written in 2004.  In the Playbill Rouse says his work can be classified roughly into “somber” and “genial,” with the Oboe Concerto falling into the latter category.  Liang Wang has been with the Philharmonic since 2006, and we certainly have heard the sound of his oboe many times before.  We also saw him in a chamber music concert at the 92Y a couple of years back.  What we heard today was a confirmation of his virtuosity.  I still recall when in college someone talking about the oboe playing a passage of 38 measures in one breath (forgot what was said about the tempo.)  It was amazing that Wang’s face didn’t turn red more often than it did.  Since I know little about the oboe other than its sound, I don’t know what other virtuoso techniques there are to the instrument.  He certainly had a lot of fast staccato passages, which is probably difficult with any instrument.  The other thing that was interesting is how the solo part would come through against a rather large orchestra, even accounting for lack of oboes in the orchestra section.

Again looking back at my notes, I enjoyed listening to Rouse’s symphony (No. 3, played on June 20, 2013.)  I did attribute that enjoyment to the composer’s overall description of the plot.  Alas, such a description doesn’t exist for today’s concert: even he says “there is no overt program to this piece.”  Now he does say the five-note chord played by the strings is the key; unfortunately I wasn’t paying attention at the start.  Rouse again uses movement markings that I don’t find particularly helpful: (i) Sereno – Molto allegro; (ii) ♪ = 50; (iii) Subito ♪ = 176 - ♪ = 50.  The movements were played without pause.

Also sprach Zarathrustra was inspired by Nietzsche’s book of the same title.  Nietsche’s generally pessimistic philosophy, other than perhaps “god is dead,” is beyond me.  Strauss did provide a structure for his composition, which is (i) Sunrise, (ii) Of those of the Unseen World, (iii) Of the Great Longing, (iv) Of Joy and Passions, (v) The Dirge, (vi) Of Science, (vii) The Convalescent, (viii) Dance Song, and (ix) Night Wanderer’s Song.  “Sunrise” was the familiar 1:30 introduction to the piece that brought me to the concert.  I am embarrassed that I couldn’t associate the music with the program after that.  Actually the Sunrise was also the most dramatic part of the piece, it was as they say all down hill from there.

In Gilbert’s notes for today’s program, he talks about Glenn Dicterow’s influence on him and the orchestra during the 30-some years he has been the concertmaster.  Dicterow is the one who picked the two Strauss pieces as “ iconic works for the concertmaster.”  I am sure he is a great musician, effective leader, and contributed majorly to the sustained prominence of the New York Philharmonic as a world-class orchestra during his tenure.  However, I really haven’t been very impressed by him either as a soloist or playing solo lines as concertmaster.  Today he sounded particularly weak.

The New York Times review talks mostly about the Rouse piece and how Wang nailed it.  The reviewer also liked Dicterow's playing.

Anne and I met up at the Cheeesquake rest area and drove in.  Traffic was a breeze.  We decided to come back to New Jersey right away after the concert, not wanting to contend with Friday night traffic.  Some trees fell onto the helix coming out of Lincoln Tunnel, so traffic was backed up all the way – for us the drive from 66^th to the tunnel (a little over a mile) took two hours.  That certainly put a damper on our evening’s plans.  I still enjoyed the Arthur Treacher’s dinner at Cheesequake, though.