David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center. Orchestra (Seat NN103, $47).
Program
Piano Concerto in E-flat major, K. 482 (1785) by Mozart
(1756-91).
Trittico botticelliano (Botticelli Triptych) (1927) by
Respighi (1879-1936).
Symphony No. 96 in D major, Miracle, Hob. I:96
(1791) by Haydn (1732-1809).
The pieces on the program are ordinary enough, despite
the great lengths the Program Annotator took to make them interesting. In his words, Mozart’s piano concerto (that
it is No. 22 isn’t mentioned in the Program Notes) was written when Mozart was
enjoying increased acclaim as a performer and composer in Vienna, and the
second movement (Andante) was repeated in the premiere. The Miracle Symphony was probably first
performed in 1791 in London and is classified as one of Haydn’s London
symphonies, it was most probably written before Haydn arrived in London. The miracle refers to the fact that no one
was hurt by a chandelier falling during a concert, but the accident most likely
happened when Symphony No. 102 was premiered.
For the audience the most informative was probably the
write-up on Respighi’s Triptych, based on three paintings by Sandro Botticelli:
La primavera (Spring); L’adorazione dei Magi (The Adoration of the magi), and
La nascita di Venere (The birth of Venus).
All three paintings are in the Uffizi Galleries, the most famous one
being Venus. The Program Notes also
quotes Respighi’s wife Elsa’s description of the three movements, which was
most useful.
The Mozart concerto started well enough, but eventually
devolved into a good but unexceptional rendition of this possible connoisseurs’
favorite (per the Program Notes). The
first and third movements are Allegro and Allegro (Rondo). The way it was performed today, I couldn’t
understand why the premiere audience wanted an encore of the slow movement. Indeed this is not a frequently performed concerto,
and I was familiar with only the third movement.
Kahane acknowledging the orchestra at the conclusion of the Mozart piano concerto.
There were quite a few solo lines in the Haydn symphony, one
of which was the Trio with “an enchanting oboe solo, and the [delectable horn
accompaniment].” But these were some of
the bright moments in another – again – good but unexceptional performance of
the composition. The movements are
Adagio-Allegro, Andante, Menuetto and Trio-Allegretto, and Finale: Vivace
(assai).
A "traditional" orchestra was used by Haydn in the Miracle symphony. There were quite a few solo lines in the piece.
The Respighi turned out to be the most interesting and
educational. I am not one who usually
associates paintings with music, but this piece came close to “breaking the
code” for me. The three paragraphs
written by Elsa Respighi certainly helped, as one could indeed imagine a woman
scattering flowers in Spring, the arrival of the caravan in Adoration, and the
waves that brought Venus to the shore.
Interestingly the Magi painting has no reference to the caravan, and I
frankly didn’t get the melody of eternal beauty in Venus. Botticelli referenced various medieval tunes
in the work, the most well-known one being “Veni, veni Emmanuel.” A bit overused, in my opinion.
Botticelli: La primavera.
Botticelli: L'adorazione dei Magi.
Botticelli: La nascita di Venere.
We exchanged a concert for next week for this one as we
plan to travel to Florida with our children and several grandchildren. I did not put this concert in my original Create
Your Own subscription because I have found past Kahane-led/performed concerts not
quite measure up to the best of the NY Phil concerts. Alas, tonight’s experience is yet another
confirmation: enjoyable, but not inspiring.
The instrumentation for Respighi's Triptych includes a triangle, orchestra bell,s celesta, harp and piano.
We decided to take the train in, and I managed to set up
Anne’s new phone with the NJ Transit APP.
We also used our cell phones to access the subway. Dinner was at KFC in Penn Station, not the
best place for a meal.
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