Program
Catamorphosis (2021) by Anna Thorvaldsdottir (b. 1977).
Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 63 (1935) by Prokofiev (1891-1953).
La Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring) (1911-13) by Stravinsky (1882-1971).
Yes, these two weeks constituted an audition for Rouvali as the next New York Philharmonic music director. Indeed if one does a search on the subject, one finds many other contenders, including Dudamel and Malkki. And (unfortunately), the Parterre seats aren't that good when it comes to a solo violin either.
If those were my only take-aways from the two concerts I attended, that would be pathetic. The highlight of the evening was actually Prokofiev's second violin concerto.
This is a piece I have known since I was a teenager, and over the years I have heard it a few times (not often programmed), and have enjoyed every single performance. The same tonight. The concerto has always felt short in duration, so I was surprised it was 26 minutes in duration. It went by quickly. Being close to the orchestra, I had a renewed appreciation for how these professionals could do it so effortlessly. And how "violent" the soloist attacked the violin. The Serbian-French violinist Radulovic had to tune his violin between movements, which is expected. Interesting the string players in the orchestra didn't need to do that (of course they can do that during the performance and not get noticed).
With the violinist's back towards us, and thus blocking both the violin and its sound, I often had to strain to hear the instrument. When he moved in such a way that we could hear the instrument well, it sounded clean and clear. The Program Notes doesn't say what violin it was, and I suspect it's a Strad. (One clue is he won some "Stradivarius Competition.")
The three movements of the concerto are: Allegro moderato; Andante assai-Allegretto-Tempo I; and Allegro ben marcato.
For encore Radulovic played a piece I would call "Variations on a Theme by Paganini." Perhaps it's a tribute to Rachmaninoff's take for the piano? Here it is only the solo violin. The original caprice is already difficult, the variations make it impossibly so. There were quite a few sloppy passages, and it reminds me of how Repin played Ravel's Tzigane: a controlled train wreck. But for the sections that work, it was surely great and impressive.
Radulovic acknowledging the orchestra, with Rouvali and Hwang looking on.
The Program Notes makes the Thorvaldsdottir piece very interesting. The title, Catamorphosis is a word made from catastrophe and metamorphosis, and the piece (per the composer) is inspired by "the fragile relationship we have with our planet." She further describes it as "... revolves around a distinct sense of urgency, driven by the shift and pull between various polar forces - power and fragililty, hope and despair, preservation and destruction;" and that "it is quite a dramatic piece, but it is also full of hope - perhaps somewhere between the natural and the unnatural, between utopia and dystopic, we can gain perspective and find balance within and with the world around us." Words I don't understand. To the extent I can make sense of them, I would expect contrasts that reflect the extremes expressed in the prose. Another example of after five minutes one wonders if there will be anything new, and after ten minutes one can't imagine the music can keep going. In this case the whole thing lasted twenty minutes.
The Program Notes lists the following atmospheric subsections, marked as inspirations for the players: Origin, Emergence, Polarity, Hope, Requiem, Portentia, and Evaporation. With our binoculars we could indeed see these markings on the music. I couldn't tell how much they inspired the musicians.
This was the US premiere of Catamorphosis. The composer Thorvaldsdottir came on stage at the end of the performance.
CS (who didn't go to this concert) mentioned the reviews were very good, and the headline of the NY Times review is extremely positive about the performance of the Rite of Spring (the author had to say some bad things about van Zweden's performance a few years ago). Perhaps it's where we sat, but I kept telling myself during the performance "does it have to so loud?" That evidently didn't bother some folks sitting close to us as they applauded enthusiastically afterwards.
Nothing wrong with loud music, but a well performed Rite of Spring should bring out the mystery, anticipation, and horror of the sacrifice process, instead of an attempt to damage the eardrums of every member of the orchestra, and audience sitting close by. (I didn't see any ear plugs in this particular violist.)
How loud was Rite of Spring? Loud. The Noise APP on my Apple Watch showed levels as high as 91db. Difficult to screen shot, though.
I found out later that the iPhone keeps a record of the sound levels. Here it shows a maximum of 99 dB, definitely too loud.
Rouvali made it a point to acknowledge the different players in the orchestra. Here with Judith LeClair, NY Phil's bassoonist whose line started the piece.
As to Rouvali coming on as the music director, I have no opinion. Since I described him as Dudamel-like, I do wonder why get a copy if the original is available?
We again took the train in.
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