David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center. Orchestra (Seat O113, $84.)
Program
Rusalka Fantasy (1900; arr. 2015) by Dvorak (1841-1904);
arr. M. Honeck, orch. T. Ille.
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D minor, Op. 47
(1902-04; rev. 1905) by Sibelius (1865-1957).
Selections from The Sleeping Beauty (1888-89) by
Tchaikovsky (1840-93); arr. M. Honeck.
The Program contains a listing of the selections from The Sleeping Beauty. The selected numbers are not in the order they appear in the full ballet score.
If asked which is the best Sibelius violin concerto
performance I have heard, more often than not I would answer “the current
one.” We have heard this performed live
many times, including by Znaider, and I feel there is a lot of truth to that
sentiment. Today was no exception. There is so much in this violin concerto that
I always enjoy listening to it. First is
the sentiment (which may nor may not be how Sibelius felt when he wrote this),
and then there is what the violinist is asked to do – very difficult techniques
in passages where even small mistakes will stand out, and the folk melody (real
or made up) of the last movement that can easily induce foot-stomping; they all make any credible
performance of this piece an enjoyable occasion. For today I even identified somewhat with
Sibelius. A few days ago I saw a live
on-line broadcast of the Cornell Symphony, and thought back on my best days as
a violin player – I was not that good – and how becoming a good violinist
was beyond my grasp.
The performance was not without its problems, even though
they were minor ones. Znaider certainly had
no problem with the virtuosity required, and he also did great musically;
however, the phrase I came away with was “sloppy.” One could put up all kinds of excuses, such
as he played it the prior evening, but it was what it was. We heard him a couple of times before, I was
effusive about his 2007 performance (same concerto), but wondered if he had
trouble with concentration when he played Beethoven’s concerto in 2016. The Guarneri violin was well-suited to the concerto,
and being quite close to the stage, we had no volume issues.
Znaider was unusually aggressive today, often infringing
on the conductor and the concertmaster’s “personal space.” I do wonder if Huang should have excused
himself, at least from the concerto; evidently a gentleman, and a hard-working one at that. Anne also noticed that Huang probably had a cold as he was coughing,
downing lozenges, and brought along a large pile of tissues. I suppose one reason was he had solo parts in
the Rusalka and The Sleeping Beauty, and it may be difficult to find a last-minute substitute.
Honeck congratulating Znaider after the Sibelius violin concerto.
The concerto was framed by two works arranged by
Honeck. We saw Rusalka a few years back,
and the “Silver Moon” aria was played by a solo violin, in this case Frank
Huang, who also played a solo in “The Sleeping Beauty.” Both arrangements were crowd pleasers,
especially The Sleeping Beauty, with its many familiar tunes.
The concert led with Honeck's digested version of Rusalka.
However, I walked away thinking this is a concert worthy
of The New York Pops Orchestra (which, it turns out, celebrated its 35th
anniversary, and Anne’s brother went to see it.) While the selection of music was enjoyable,
the use of intellect was not necessary, or at least optional; even the Sibelius can be heard just
as a show piece. I am all for “let’s not
pretend to be sophisticated,” but we call some orchestra “pops” for a good
reason.
Due to scheduling issues, we ended up exchanging the date
for this concert, twice, and end up attending this 11 am performance. We stayed at Hoboken last night, so it wasn’t
that much of a rush this morning.
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