David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center. Orchestra (Seat BB103, $66.50).
Program
Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 99 (1947-48) by Shostakovich (1906-75).
Sinfonia No. 1 (1984) by Walker (1922-2018).
Feste romane (Roman Festivals) (1928) by Respighi (1879-1936).
Kavakos and Noseda after the Shostakovich violin concerto.
The intermission was moved to right after the Shostakovich piece. Which made sense as the seating rearrangement can be made during intermission
Looking over my blog entries, I have encountered this Shostakovich violin concerto a couple of times before, performed by Christian Tetzlaff (2009) and Lisa Batiashvili (2014). There was much about how unconventional the structure of the concerto was, whether the delay in its premiere was due to the shifting political climate in Russia or to David Oistrakh's neglect, and to what is the proper opus number for the work (No. 77 according to the composer's output, 99 per its publication date).
Those are interesting, but don't really add to how the concerto would sound. Compared with (my recollection of) what my two previous encounters were like, Kavakos' performance didn't quite measure up.
There is no question Kavakos is a great technician, producing a sound that is clean and accurate. However, one couldn't help but think he was playing an etude, one that is quite difficult, no doubt. That's how I felt after the first two movements. His technical prowess served him well when it came to the third movement: the variations were woven seamlessly into the repeating "bass" theme. Similarly the fourth movement was very enjoyable. So, hits on the third and fourth movements, misses on the first two.
Kavakos played an encore.
I had encountered George Walker's music before; twice, both performed by NJ Symphony. The pieces, Lyric for Strings and Lilacs for Voice and Orchestra, are both mentioned in today's Program Notes. Today's sinfonia is the first of five sinfonias composed by him, and contains two movements, labeled helpfully 1 and 2. Notes supplied for the premiere of the work for its August 1984 premiere helps with understanding the structures of the two movements. At 13 minutes in length, the piece was over before I could make much sense of it beyond what the Notes say.
Walker's sinfonia was performed after the intermission.
Respighi is the composer of "Roman Triptych" consisting of Fountains of Rome (1915-16), Pines of Rome (1923-24), and Roman Festivals (1928). My blog entries contain a few works by him, but the only one from the Triptych was the Fountains performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra, and by this orchestra from Manchester (played in Montepulciano). The Roman Festivals describe: games at the Circus Maximus; the Jubilee; the October Festival; and the Epiphany. The "festivals" were performed without a break. The change from the first to the second was readily discernable, while the "mood changes" later on were more subtle. The Program Notes end the description with "... Respighi piles up sonority upon sonority to achieve one of the most tumultuous raisings of the roof ever heard." I don't think the piece rose to (or dropped to) that level, although it was quite loud at times.
This is at the end of the concert. Time stamp 9:58 pm. We left soon after to catch our train back to NJ. We noticed the principal bass from NJ Symphony in the bass section. One can play the game of "spot the differences" in this photo with the one prior. Among other changes: no harps, different percussion instruments.
At intermission I got to the top level (Tier 3) and took this photo of the Wu Tsai Theater.
As a review, this writeup is "lukewarm." Nothing wrong with it, but nothing that spectacular either.
One cannot tell from the photos I took, but among the bassists was NJ Symphony's principal. Her bio does say she performs with the NY Phil.
Tonight's tickets were bought when NY Phil offered a 30% discount. For this season I bought three tickets as a "create your own" deal, the rest of the concerts were single-event purchases. I just signed by for a 7-concert subscription for next season, including the final series led by Jaap van Zweden - and it's Mahler's Second.
We took the train in. Our trip to New York experienced a 30-minute delay, which made it a bit tight. We left the concert hall quickly (after the first applause), and made the 10:23 pm return train, with a few minutes to spare.
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