Avery Fisher
Hall at Lincoln Center, First Tier (Seat CC15, $64.50).
Program
Aallottaret (The
Oceanides), Tone Poem for Orchestra, Op. 73 (1914) by Sibelius (1865-1957).
Concerto for
Violin in D minor, Op. 47 (1902-04; rev. 1905) by Sibelius.
Symphony No. 2
in D major, Op. 73 (1877) by Brahms (1833-97).
We came back
from an international trip late Tuesday, so I was worried about being awake for
this program. On top of that,
babysitting duties and Anne’s meeting in Flushing meant a relatively early
start for us. I am glad to report that
we had no problems.
Aallottaret is
the name of the water nymphs of Greek antiquity, and Sibelius wrote it as a commission
for a music festival in Norfolk, CT. He
was also invited to conduct its premiere, and the composer retitled the tone
poem from “Rondo of the Waves” to the current one after crossing the Atlantic
on Kaiser Wilhem II (perhaps a rough ride?).
Except for the conjecture, all this is from the Playbill, which also
cites opinion that this work calls to mind the other famous seascape piece (La
Mer) and was perhaps Sibelius’s venture into impressionism.
To me, the line
between impressionist paintings and those of other genres is quite blurry. I haven’t studied what impressionist music
really is, but suspect there is a similar spectrum of uncertainty
involved. One thing I know, impressionist
paintings appeal more readily to me than impressionist music, and I say this as
someone who goes to concerts much more than art galleries.
While the music
is definitely Sibelius, the adjective that came to my mind was “clichéd.” There may be a story line associated with the
music (as those tone poems that I know have), I couldn’t make it out and wasn’t
creative enough to make one up, so all I got were sounds of waves, crescendos
and decrescendos (building up and calming of the waves, no doubt.) I found both La Mer and the overture to
Flying Dutchman more compelling as a description of the oceans. The orchestra sounded quite precise, though.
Zimmermann was a
recent artist-in-residence at the Philharmonic, and I heard him a couple of
times. I was also looking forward to
hearing Sibelius’s concerto, a piece that is both technically and musically
challenging piece.
Technically
Zimmermann did well, one measure of that was at no time I was worried that he
would miss a passage. However, I did
cringe – a lot – at his intonation problems, especially during the first
movement. Anne had a similar complaint.
Lately it has been out
of fashion to talk about how this violin concerto is a reflection of Sibelius’s
inadequacies as a violinist (although he was pretty good,) which is okay. However, that doesn’t mean all the emotion should
be taken from the composition. Zimmermann started the solo with a dark tone,
underlined by little use of the vibrato, which really captured my attention; it
is too bad the piece eventually sounded like an etude.
In any case, the
audience went wild afterwards.
Zimmermann played Bach’s Partita (MWV 1006, E major) as an encore. It was really well-played, with the different
lines coming through clearly.
Of all the
Brahms symphonies, I have a special affinity for his second: I was with the
Cornell Symphony when we played it at one of the semi-annual concerts. That was the 70s. Forty years later it still sounded as lovely
as it did then.
This was the
first time we saw Oramo, chief conductor of the Royal Stockholm Orchestra. While he certainly got a good sound from the
orchestra, especially for the Sibelius violin concerto, I am not sure how good
a story-teller he is.
It’s been a
while since we last sat in Tier 1, the acoustics at the corner was surprisingly
good. While I was scanning the orchestra
with my binoculars, I noticed in the Violin II section someone who (used to?)
plays for the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.
Audition?
The New YorkTimes review contains some interesting information on the “new” violin
Zimmermann used for this concert (a Guarnerius instead of a Strad) and
explained how he managed to produce a similar sound. The reviewer also talked about the beginning
of the concerto. He however liked the
entire performance. I did like the sound of the instrument, though.
Anne went to
Flushing earlier in the day to have a meeting, and I drove up by myself to
Lincoln Center. Traffic wasn’t a problem
at all.
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