Avery
Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Orchestra
(Seat Z114, $39.50).
Program
Moz-Art a la Haydn (1977) by Alfred
Schnittke (1934-1998).
Violin Concerto No. 1 in B-flat major, K.
207 (1773) by Mozart (1756-1791).
Overture to L’isola disabitata, Hob.Ia.13
(1779) by Haydn (1732-1809).
Symphony No. 38 in D major, K.504 (“Prague”)
(1786) by Mozart.
Recently there is an Apple Computer ad on TV
“starring” Esa-Pekka Salonen. It follows
how he started with a fragment of a tune and ends with a violin concerto performed
by Leila Josefowicz. Using an iPad, of course. That may or may not sell an iPad, but
certainly illustrated how a contemporary composer may go about his work.
Still, oftentimes I wonder what a composer
is trying to say with a particular piece.
I get even more cynical when a supposedly clever title is
concocted. Tonight’s Schnittke piece
belongs in that category. Actually I
began with a rather open mind, as the notes (written by Paul Schiavo) made the
composition sound intriguing. At the end
of the day, it was modern music with snippets of Mozart melodies buried in
it. Perhaps realizing that there isn’t
much there, the composer put in requests that the players (about 14 of them)
move about on stage, and that they leave one by one at the end of the
piece. That is supposed to be inspired
by Haydn’s Farewell Symphony, I was ready to hum the tune form The Sound of
Music.
Two violinists (Concertmaster Ruggero
Allifranchini and Principal Laura Frautschi) had lead roles in the music. There was an annoying hum at the beginning: I
just couldn’t tell if it came in from the street or was intentional.
One would think this is how a disaster
unfolds. But I had faith in the rest of
the program, in the conductor, and in the soloist. My faith was rewarded.
Mozart’s violin concertos were standard fare
for the violin student, at least when I was one decades ago. They may present a challenge, but most could
put together an decent sounding performance.
Helped by the passage of time, I am sure that is what I did.
A little while back, I was dismayed to learn
that all Mozart’s five violin concertos were written before he turned 19
(considered the immature period,) and he was 17 when he completed the first
one. Simply put, it sounded very mature
tonight.
Tetzlaff and Langree wove together a
beautiful rendition of the piece. I
remarked in my Salzburg Festival blog that I like Mozart light and crisp, and
it was light and crisp today. Tetzlaff’s
lines were smooth, runs flawless, technique exquisite, and interpretation
inspiring. There are many ways to
interpret Mozart, and this is as good as any.
Tetzlaff played his own encores, but they sounded like they belong in
the original composition.
That’s what a Mostly Mozart Festival
experience should feel like.
The three movements of the Concerto are
Allegro moderato, Adagio, and Presto.
After a couple of curtain calls, he played a
encore. It sounded familiar, but
unfortunately I couldn’t place it. I
have to say the real effect of the encore was to get me to look at my watch
again and again as I had a 10:18 pm train to catch. (The next one is an hour later.)
Perhaps everyone was trying to keep to a
schedule, so the intermission was relatively short at about 20 minutes.
If I am asked to name a Haydn opera, I won’t
be able to. Evidently he wrote quite a
few, mostly for his patron Prince Esterhazy; that they are seldom performed today
is attributed to their old-fashioned librettos.
I am paraphrasing Playbill without knowing what it means. It also says the prelude performed this
evening is great symphonic writing, and is popular to this day. Naturally, this was the first time I heard of
it.
Given the opera storyline in the Playbill,
and its description of the 8 minute piece, it was quite easy to follow
along. And in this case there was truth
in advertisement. Overall a delightful
piece of music, and because of it I might go see a Haydn opera if there is a
chance to do so. I have expressed
several times my opinion of Handel’s operas in this blog, how much worse can it
be? (I know I enjoyed Julius Caesar.)
If one thinks about it, the world of
Salzburg and Mostly Mozart must collide at some point. And in this instance it did, as the Prague
Symphony. I heard this performed by the
Mozarteumorcher less than two weeks ago, with Honeck conducting.
Had I known this, I would have jotted down
more notes in Salzburg: I love the opportunity to compare how different artists
interpret the same things.
Like the entire program itself, the symphony
didn’t start all that auspiciously. It
just didn’t sound like everyone was on the same page when the playing first
started. However, things improved as the
first movement went along. There was one
noticeable flaw: the transitions from one motif to another sounded grafted and
abrupt; I remember them as natural in the Salzburg performance. Despite all that, I was still impressed with
how the movement was performed. Thus it
was unfortunate that the second and third movements were not played as well:
the second movement sounded dry, and the orchestra muddled through some of the
faster runs in the third.
So far this blog has affirmed many of my clichés
(e.g., liking Mozart light and crisp.)
Here is another one: I can’t tell a great Mozart performance from a good
one. Tonight I can: overall, I am sure
this is a good performance. Nothing
wrong with it though, I come to M|M concerts to relax, not to do heavy
intellectual exercises.
The program concluded at around 9:55
pm. The gentleman sitting next to me
also wanted to leave early, so I used him as a blocker to leave the
auditorium. I got to Penn Station at
about 10:05 pm, so I could have stayed for a couple of extra minutes. Anne picked me up at the train station.
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