Saturday, August 16, 2014

Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra – Louis Langree, conductor; Christian Tetzlaff, violin. August 5, 2014.

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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