Program
Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op. 25, Classical
(1916-17) by Prokofiev (1891-1953).
Concerto in E minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 64
(1844) by Mendelssohn (1809-47).
Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92 (1811-12) by Beethoven
(1770-1827).
Just as with the NJ Symphony concert a few weeks ago, I
was looking forward to this first NY Phil concert we were about to attend. I was not quite sure what to make of the
Program. Both the Mendelssohn and
Beethoven pieces are staples of the concert repertoire. I don’t recall having heard the Prokofiev
symphony live before, but it is on one of the CDs in our car, and gets played
quite often (more because we have only a couple of CDs in the car than anything
else), and it is a short and pleasant composition.
Prokofiev’s first symphony was written when Prokofiev was
a student at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and “would earn an enduring spot
in the orchestral repertoire … and in the history books as a forebear of the
widespread neoclassicism of the 1920s.”
The short symphony (less than 15 minutes) consists of Allegro con brio,
Larghetto, Gavotte: Non troppo allegro, and Finale: Molto vivace.
If one had listened to one version of performance many
times, that version tends to be the standard by which other performances are
measured. But that’s not what I came
away with at all with this delightful, fast, and light-hearted rendition. The orchestra sounded precise and crisp, just
like how Mozart would have wanted it.
After listening to this piece I was ready to settle in for an enjoyable
evening of familiar music.
(I did hear this performed by NJ Symphony a couple of
years ago, with Zhang conducting, and liked that performance too.)
Julia Fischer’s name is very familiar. A search of my blog returned only one
instance where I heard her perform, and that was in 2008, when she was in her
twenties. The aspect about her that was
special was that she’s both a concert violinist and concert pianist, and was at
that time the youngest professor at some school. Interestingly, that was the only concert of
hers that I had ever attended.
More than ten years down the road, that’s still her
career path. And by all indications
tonight she could get most of Mendelssohn right, one could quibble with the
interpretation (e.g., tempo), the occasional off-pitch here, or that some notes
were played too softly, but it was a well-done performance. That Mendelssohn’s concerto highlights the
melodic and technical skills of the violinist, and she took advantage of it.
Fischer and Jordan after performance of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto.
How does one distinguish between a tier 1 level soloist
and a superstar? She didn’t come across
as such tonight, perhaps it was the occasional mistake, or the inability to
engage the audience more, or may be it was simply projecting an aura of
confidence. I don’t know if it would
make her a superstar in the instrument, but I would say trying to straddle both
the violin and piano may not get her there.
Even though a typical soloist does only a few pieces per season, one
still has to live and breathe the art day in and day out. What you want to be able do with a violin is
quite different from with a piano (e.g., latter has no pitch issues, and
interval jumps are done very differently).
Not that any one needs any advice from me, but I wanted to write down
this observation.
She performed Paganini's Caprice 24 as an encore piece. It was well done, but not quite up to how Hadelich did it a few years back, which I described as "perfect."
Frank Huang stayed for the Mendelssohn. I do wonder if he sometimes should excuse himself as I am sure many (some?) in the audience were wondering if he could do a better job.
Many people think of the film Immortal Beloved when it
comes to Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, specifically the slow movement. It indeed is one of the more lovely movements
in the repertoire, conjuring up thoughts of regret, introspection, and
longing. However, it would be unfortunate
not to appreciate the other movements which are not as “sturm und drang” and
Beethoven’s odd-numbered symphonies. I very
much enjoyed the piece.
Curtain Call after Beethoven's Seventh Symphony.
We last saw Philippe Jordan conducting the Met’s Ring
Cycle in the spring. Today we had a good
view of the stage, and noticed that he conducted with a lot of energy and
movement.
Here is the New York Times review.
Here is the New York Times review.
Today’s is Halloween, so we left candy outside our door
for the late trick or treaters, and I was surprised at how many people were out
and about around the Lincoln Center area.
A block of 69th was dedicated to pedestrians. I, for one, can’t understand the point of
walking around in a costume.
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