New York Philharmonic – Jaap van Zweden, conductor; Yuja Wang, piano. March 1, 2018.

David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center.  Orchestra 2 (Seat CC106, $62.50).

Program

Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15 (1858) by Brahms (1833-97).

Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, Op. 100 (1944) by Prokofiev (1891-1953).

The concert is exciting for two reasons.  First is the soloist, who is always a sensation when she performs; second is the conductor, the director-designate of the Philharmonic.

The program is both aggressive and conservative.  Aggressive in that both pieces are difficult pieces, the concerto for the pianist (no cakewalk for the orchestra either), and the symphony is a complex work. Both challenge the stamina and technique of the musicians. Yet it is conservative as the works are in the standard repertoire (for a virtuoso and world-class ensemble, that is.)

Our seats had good acoustics, and a relatively good view of the stage.  The orchestra was arranged a bit differently, and some musicians were placed on platforms so they could see the conductor better.  The people sitting in front were tall, so I did have a somewhat blocked view.

Brahms’s first piano concerto is often described as muscular, stormy, and tumultuous.  It was all that in the hands of Wang.  It was always amazing how easy she made the piece look, and how well she worked the rather large orchestra, and how strong she can make a passage sound.  As usual, her performance was dazzling and mesmerizing.  She clearly enjoyed the energy from the audience as well, performing two encores.  One showed off her power at the keyboard, the other (Chopinesque) how tender and playful she could make the music sound.

Yet I was disappointed. The definitive performance of Wang’s that I heard was Ravel’s Concerto in G, which brought a level of insight to the piece that I wouldn’t have otherwise gotten.  While today’s performance was as good as any I had heard, there were for me no “ah, that’s why Brahms meant” moments in it.  To be fair, this Brahms concerto is not high on my list of favorite piano concertos.

Yuja Wang after performing Brahms's first piano conerto.

I would give the same assessment to the Prokofiev symphony which is a test of how well an orchestra works with its conductor.  Other than some jitters in the beginning which resulted in a bit of (slight) confusion, the orchestra seemed to work well with van Zweden.  And he took pains to acknowledge the individual sections of the orchestra.  Still, the rendition wasn’t at the “wow, I didn’t realize Prokofiev was trying to say that!” level.

After the performance of Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony.  Note the slot in the back of the stage; a camera was pointing at the stage throughout the performance.

There were microphones around the stage, indicating that this performance was being recorded.  However, one could see a camera in the slot behind the stage; I found it distracting, and wonder if that added to the tentativeness in the beginning.

The New York Times review was “middling,” the reviewer liked the Prokofiev more than the Brahms, blaming the apparent need for van Zweden to “warm up.”  The audience, on the other hand, was enthusiastic.  There were more empty seats than I expected, though.

We visited our grandkids in Hoboken before we drove in for the concert.  Parking on Columbus cost all of $0.50.