Richardson Auditorium, Princeton. Rear Parterre (Seat O10, $53).
Program
Konzertstuck
for Four Horns in F Major, Op. 86 (1849) by Schumann (1810-1856).
Symphony No. 8 in B minor, “Unfinished,” D. 759 (1822) by
Schubert (1797-1828).
Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104 (1894-1895) by Dvorak
(1841-1904).
Horns: Chris Komer, Andrea Menousek, Lawrence DiBello,
Eric Reed
This was overall an exciting concert, with crowd pleasers
that were easy to get, and – for tonight – well performed. Lately I developed some doubts about the orchestra,
so I was happy when at the end I could say, “great, they’re back.”
The horn must be a very difficult instrument to play, with
pitches difficult to get correctly, and soft sounds often uneven. Three of today’s players are from the
orchestra’s horn section, and Reed is a local artist. The 21-minute piece consists of three
movements: Lebhaft; Romanze: Ziemlich langsam; Sehr lebhaft. Schumann wrote several pieces for the horn (in
conjunction with other instruments and orchestra) after he moved to Dresden. The Program Notes has a good description of
how the three movements sound, except the players didn’t quite perform to that
standard. Some of that may be my lack of
familiarity with the instrument; I didn’t get the “you’ll discern differences
in horn timbres” at all.
The four horns after performing Schumann's Konzertstuck.
I am quite familiar with the melodies in Schubert’s Unfinished
Symphony, especially considering there is only one entry of the piece in this
blog. As I am writing this, I find myself
humming some of them; by that measure it was a great success. The sound was full and the dynamic range was
great in the relatively small Richardson Auditorium. One could wish for more precision from the
different sections, but that didn’t detract from how well the overall
performance was structured.
My prior exposure to the symphony was in 2015, and I recorded
that Schubert for some reason stopped working on it after having completed two
movements. I had forgotten that. The piece was unperformed for 40-odd years,
seeing its premiere in 1865. Its two movements
are Allegro moderato and Andante con moto.
After performing Schubert's Unfinished Symphony.
Similarly, that there is only one entry of Dvorak’s Cello
Concerto in my blog, back in 2011 doesn’t explain my apparent familiarity with
it. I recorded then that Dvorak wrote
some parts of it with the passing of his sister in mind. Tonight’s Program Notes said it was his
sister-in-law Josefina Kaunitzova, which added a degree of poignancy to the
music. It also mentioned how Dvorak
wouldn’t replace the coda in the finale where he repeated the song “Let me
wander alone with my dreams” with a virtuoso cadenza for the originally planned
premiere cellist. As a result, a
different cellist performed the premiere, in London. The three movements are Allegro, Adagio ma
non troppo, and Finale: Allegro moderato.
And Moser was most impressive. Many of the passages looked extremely
difficult to this non-cello player, especially the many double glissandos and
double trills, and the occasional left hand pizzicato. He tackled them with ease, the smile on his
face seemed to say “I have been practicing a lot.” His cello, a Guarneri, has this pleasant
nasal tone which was probably the reason why Dvorak thought the cello wasn’t a
great solo instrument.
Moser and Zhang after Dvorak's Cello Concerto.
There was this passage where the cello was in a dialog
with the solo violin. The two players
seemed to build on each other’s enthusiasm (some may say egging on each other). It was both delightful to hear and beautiful
to watch. Wyrick was up to the task.
The audience reacted well to all three pieces.
I walked away feeling a bit melancholic, who wouldn’t
after these two minor-keyed pieces, but I was also happy.
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