Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra – Cristian Macelaru, conductor; Lars Vogt, piano. August 14, 2015.

Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, Orchestra (Seat O10, $40.)

Pre-Concert Recital: Jon Manasse, clarinet; Ilya Finkelshteyn, cello; Jon Nakamatsu, piano.

Clarinet Trio in A minor, Op. 114 (1891) by Brahms (1833-1897).

Program

Symphony No. 39 in E-flat major, K.543 (1788) by Mozart (1756-1791).

Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58 (1804-07) by Beethoven (1770-1827).

This was our third concert in three days, and I felt surprisingly eager for it.  Anticipating traffic congestion along the way, we left a bit after 4 pm on this Friday afternoon.  And traffic was bad.  With traffic reports saying both the Lincoln Tunnel and the Westside Highway were congested, we took a detour via GW Bridge, going an extra 12 miles.  It actually worked, the trip took about 1:30 hours.  We had dinner at Amber.  It had moved to a much smaller place across the street from where it used to be.

Jon Manasse used to be the principal clarinet for the Metropolitan Opera.  Ilya Finkelshteyn is the principal cello of Cincinnati Symphony.  They both belong to the MM Festival Orchestra.  Nakamatsu was a Gold Medalist at the 1997 Van Cliburn Competition, which is no small feat.

Brahms had declared his retirement in 1890, but jumped back into music writing.  Even thought this was the first time I heard the piece, I enjoyed it.  As with much of Brahms’ chamber music work, this was on the introspective side, with elegant phrases and much give-and-take among the instruments.  I am sure with additional listenings and analysis I will enjoy the composition even more.  The four movements are Allegro, Adagio, Andante grazioso, and Allegro.

The main program is a bit on the short side, with each piece lasting about 30 minutes.  Mozart’s 39^th is in the group of three he wrote in quick succession in 1788.  We heard the 40^th a few days earlier, conducted by Louis Langree  This one certain is very different in character, much more playful after its solemn start.  It was a good performance, with the orchestra delivering crisp and energetic lines.  The movements are Adagio - Allegretto, Andante con moto, Menuetto: Allegro, and Finale: Allegro.

Beethoven’s fourth piano concerto is characterized very much by the great contrasts, with some commentators attributing it to his struggles with going deaf.  The cadenzas looked and sounded virtuosic.  This was the first time we saw Lar Vogt, a German pianist in his 40s.  He certainly proved my point that one could do great music without putting one’s nose close to the keyboard, as this was a very enjoyable performance – my only complaint is sometimes things sounded a bit muddled with too much pedaling.  Vogt looked serious during the light movements, and downright pained when the music got intense, and it got intense quite often.  After some enthusiastic applause, he (and the orchestra) played a slow movement from one of Mozart’s concertos.  The movements are Allegro moderato, Andante con moto, and Rondo: vivace.

The bio on Macelaru in the Playbill is certainly impressive, if “Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award” and “Philadelphia Orchestra Subscription” mean anything.  A check of the web indicates that Romanian-born Macelaru is in his mid-30s.  I wonder if he will break through as one of the leading conductors for his generation soon.

The New YorkTimes review characterized Vogt’s playing as “muscular,” and the reviewer heaped considerable praise on him, especially in his late evening performance of several piano sonatas (which we didn’t attend.)  Her assessment of the symphony performance was less than “hefty.”