David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center. Orchestra 3 (Seat V103, $83).
Alena Baeva and Paavo Jarvi after performing the Britten violin concerto.
Program
Overture No. 2 (1958-59) by Tormis (1930-2017).
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 15 (1938-39, last rev. 1965) by Britten (1913-76).
Symphony No. 6 in E-flat minor, Op. 111 (1945-47) by Prokofiev (1891-1953).
After the concert the first thought that came to mind was how rare it was nowadays that I hear three pieces I hadn't heard before. Indeed this was my first encounter with Tormis. But a review of my blog entries returns one Prokofiev (12/2017, NJ Symphony) and multiple instances of Britten (and twice in 11/2018, NJ Symphony and NY Philharmonic). This blog entry should be read with that in mind.
Writing on Tuesday, 3 days after the concert, I have already forgotten about how the Tormis overture sounded like, and whether it has any distinguishing characteristics. But fear not, I did jot down a few phrases, including "quite enjoyable." One reason I attribute to its likeability because while the approach is clearly modern, there are enough classical (or psudo-classical, if there is such a term) elements to the work that may it quite accessible. That the Program Notes has a "The Work at a Glance" byline helps tremendously in following the music. To quote the last section: This time, more-prominent brass and military drumrolls ratchet up the sense of urgency - perhaps even the imminent doom of a march to the gallows - as Tormis closes dramatically with three final, stark shots across the bow. That description certainly announced the end of the piece; or one can look at one's watch and tell when 11 minutes have lapsed.
After the Tormis piece. Many sections were headed by the associate/assistant principals for this concert.
In my defence, I heard the Britten concerto last in 2018, a full five years ago. Still, how could I forget the vehemence with which the violin is attacked, and all the technical demands on the soloist from double and triple stops to left hand pizzicatos, and double harmonics. And to string together the phrases to provide a narrative (for the musical soul, since I am not sure Britten was trying to describe anything). The Kyrgystan-born Baeva was up to the task. She plays a Guarnerius (ex-William Kroll of 1738) with a tone quality and brilliance that rival a Strad (meant as a compliment) for the first two movements. The violin was overwhelmed often during the third movement; I wonder if the concerto asks a lot of the performer.
With a piece so technically challenging, one would expect issues in the performance. For tonight it was mostly intonation and uncertain harmonics. I don't need to wonder how a more technically accomplished performance would sound like: one of the 11/2018 performances was by Hadelich, who came through better than tonight's, if what I wrote for that day is any indication.
For any encore we heard a movement of a concerto that was more of the same: a showcase for technical prowess, in this instance with a lot of flying arpeggios. It would have been nice to hear a more lyrical piece.
For most of the 20th century Russian composers had to go with the political wind. Shostakovich is the prime example, but Prokofiev was subject to the same praise and criticism by the "culture department" of the government. (What I can never understand is why Prokofiev chose to return to Russia; perhaps thinking 'this time it will be different?'.) The Program Notes describes how the sixth was praised by critics when it first came out in October 1947, and Prokofiev was named People's Artist of Russia, and then denounced in January 1948 with the symphony censured. It didn't return to a Russian hall until the 1960s; in the meantime it received international acclaim.
Prokofiev's original description of the symphony is succinct (quoting the Program Notes again): The first movement is of a restless nature, at times lyrical and at times stern; the second movement is more tranquil and songful; the finale, fast and buoyant, would resemble in nature my Fifth Symphony but for the stern echoes of the first movement. To get that, I will need to listen to the symphony multiple times; and this was my second time. A few more to go, then.
We had babysitting duties in Hoboken this afternoon. It was quite easy to take Bus 126 in.
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