New York Philharmonic. Fabio Biondi, conductor. December 12, 2023.

David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center.  Orchestra (Seat R103, $90.25).

End of concert.  At 9:30 pm.  Note the two trumpeters on the left.

Program

Messiah (1741) by Handel (1685-1759).

Artists

Hera Hyesang Park, soprano; Hannah Ludwig, alto; John Matthew Myers, tenor; Joshua Conyers, baritone.

Handel and Haydn Society Chorus

Let me start off by saying this was an enjoyable concert.  A group of highly competent musicians put together a traditional program to celebrate the holiday season; and one could argue a lot of good will was in the air as a near-capacity audience listened to great music, or got reminded what the Messiah was about by Handel's masterpiece.

Having said that, there are some aspects of this performance I wanted to record for future reference.

One can start with the conductor, who evidently is also a concert violinist.  The best way to describe the result of Biondi's direction is Handel was brought forward by 100 years, to the romantic period.  Different, but not necessarily better.  The orchestra by-and-large responded very well to his style.  I don't remember any prior performance of the oratorio where the conductor did his job with so much gusto.

The chorus didn't miss a beat either.  Although it seemed to put in more of a buffer when it came to following the conductor's cues.  Which worked out okay.  And they did the quarter note runs very well.

Both the male voices did quite well.  Handel's music (and baroque in general, I believe) calls for many runs of quarter notes, there was a tendency for both men to slur their notes rather than to enunciate each note clearly.  Not okay with a chorus - things would have sounded very sloppy - and not ideal with soloists, in my opinion.

The women soloists were somewhat of a disappointment.  They approached the arias as if they were from an opera rather than an oratorio.  So things got over dramatic (remember, they brought the music up by a century?), and sometimes diction and clarity suffered as a result.

That was particularly true of the soprano Park.  I remarked to myself that I hoped she would redeem herself when she was to sing "I know that my redeemer liveth."  Which to her credit she did somewhat.  Also, she didn't do any singing during Part II.  The recitative "He was cut off" and the aria "But Thou didst not leave His soul in hell" are marked for the soprano, but were sung by the tenor.  I wonder if that was planned, or a last minute decision.  It seemed the quality of the performance improved after the intermission, so perhaps the latter happened.  Similarly remarks can be made of Ludwig's singing.

If one compares the movements in tonight's performance with what we heard in Boston back in November, there are some noticeable differences.  One example was the first movement in Part II tonight it was the air "He was despised" while in Boston it was the chorus "Behold the Lamb of God."  And in Part III both the Alto recitative "Then shall be brought to pass" and Alto and Tenor duet "O Death, Where is Thy Sting" are missing in the Boston production.  I wonder if there are standard variations to Messiah, or the conductor makes the decisions on how a particular performance is put together.  The Wikipedia article on the oratorio has a complete listing of all the movements.

Intermission at 7:55 pm.  For tonight's performance it happened after completion of Part I, about 50 minutes in duraction.  Parts II and III add up to about 75 minutes.  Most programs have breaks in the middle of Part II.  Better continuity with the earlier intermission.

The poinsettias are in the middle of the stage.

The H+H Society Chorus members must be credited on how versatile they are both in terms of the texts, and interpretations thereof, are modified from location to location.  

I was surprised at the small number of chorus members at the Boston performance: 31 of them.  For tonight there were 36.  10 each for the high voices, and 8 each for the low ones.  Three of the alto voices were countertenors.  Wondering how these things work, I looked at the H+H website and the programs for the Boston and New York listings of participants.  Well, I looked at the listings for sopranos.  On the H+H website there are 15 sopranos.  Five of them were at tonight's concert, 2 were not present in Boston, and 3 were not on the roster (making them temps?); and 6 who sang in Boston didn't show up.  It makes one wonder if there are not multiple (as many as three) H+H choruses touring the world.  I also found out Jonathan Cohen conducted the oratorio with the New York Phil, with the Westminster Choir as the chorus.

The NY Phil doesn't bother with being "period" correct, and the trumpet passages in Part III were done with a modern instrument.  That didn't bother me.  Actually I enjoyed the sound of the trumpet.  I wonder where one draws the line.  Messiah was first performed at the Fishamble Street Music Hall in Dublin, with a capacity of 700.  It is not practical to use an orchestra or a chorus that approximate the size at premiere is not practical in a hall with close to four times (2600)  the seating capacity, in my opinion.

There was a pause after the first few movements, presumably to let late comers to be seated.  Probably due to miscommunication with the usher staff, no one did.  Quite a few came in after the next number, while the musicians were playing and singing.  So logistics issues are not limited to NJ Symphony.

It was a cold evening (by the mild NJ standards), appropriate for the season.

The English Concert. Handel's Rodelinda regina de'Longobardi. December 10, 2023.

Isaac Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall.  Balcony (Seat J3, $28).

End of concert.  The people in the front are (from L to R): Garibaldo, Rodelinda, Bertarido, Harry Bicket, Eduige, Grimoaldo, and Unulfo.

Program - in concert

Rodelinda, HWV 19 (1725) by Handel (1685-1759).

Conductor - Harry Bicket; Rodelinda - Lucy Crowe (soprano), Bertarido - Iestyn Davies (countertenor), Unulfo - Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen (countertenor), Eduige - Christine Rice (messo-soprano), Garibaldo - Brendon Cedel (bass-bariton).

Background.  At his death, the King of Lombardy left his domain in equal parts to his three children: Bertarido, Eduige, and Gundeberto.  Gundeberto has died, Bertarido is believed to have died - leaving the widow Rodelinda behind as Queen of Milan - and by wooing Eduige, Duke Grimoaldo has aspirations to the whole kingdom.

Story.  Grimoaldo has seized power, so Rodelinda and her son Flavio are his prisoners. Grimoaldo offers the throne to Rodelinda if she would marry him.  Rodelinda refuses, and Eduige vows vengeance on the Duke.  Bertarido is still alive, and in hiding; his trusted aide Unulfo is the only one who knows.  Grimoaldo's councilor Garibaldo visits Rodelinda and threatens to kill her son if she refuses to marry Grimoaldo.  Rodelinda agrees, this is overheard by the eavesdropping Bertarido.  Rodelinda's term, however, is the Grimaoldo must kill Flavio by his own hands, expecting Grimaoldo not able to commit such an act, which he cannot, despite the urging of Garibaldo.  Enduige discovers Bertarido's hiding place and helps reunite him with Rodelinda.  This is discovered by Grimoaldo and he imprisons Bertarido.  Unulfo, with the help of Enduige, breaks into the prison cell to free Grimoaldo, but is stabbed as he is mistaken for a guard, leaving blood on the prison floor.  Unulfo manages to free Bertarido.  When Rodelinda and Flavio find the empty cell and see the blood on the floor, they think Grimoaldo has been killed.  Meanwhile, while Grimoaldo is sleeping in the garden, Garibaldo decides to ambush him.  Bertarido is nearby and strikes down Garibaldo.  Grimoaldo has a chance of heart, relinquishes the throne to Bertarido, nad offers to marry Eduige.  At the end everyone express their joy and hail a brighter future.

The story is quite straightforward.  When I was typing the above paragraphs I drew on heavily the synopsis in the Program Notes.  I didn't expect it ended up being quite long, in no small due to the names of the six characters.

It also took a while for me to sort out the different characters, for the usual reasons.  First, countertenors always give me cognitive dissonance.  This is compounded by all the men wearing suits that look similar.  (Well, Grimoaldo's jacket was some shade of dark purple.)  The two women also wear similar dresses (silver over black).  For the audience, especially those sitting in the back - making the characters distinct looking would help, especially for a concert performance.

Other than those gripes, the afternoon was an enjoyable experience.  Knowing this was a concert performance, the composer was Handel, and the English Concert is a period instrument ensemble helped set expectations.

For an "in concert" performance the orchestra sits at the same level as the action.  This makes the orchestra an integral part of the "show" and adds to one's appreciation of the music.  The ensemble was small, but the sound carried very well into the balcony.  And today I could hear both the theorbo and the harpsichords (there were two harpsichords, with Bicket playing one of them); I recall having trouble when I was at the H+H Society performance of Messiah.

All the singers did a great job portraying their characters.  Lucy Crowe has a strong voice that held up well throughout the performance.  I do wish she could sound madder and wispier when necessary.  The music calls for many rapid runs that all the singers handled with ease.  The characters did a lot of entrances and exits, and would sometimes walk around or sit in the six chairs on stage; I imagine that required considerable rehearsal, including for those who open and close the stage doors.  They did hold the music in their hands when they moved around.

While I continue to assert that great opera begins and stops with great music, I do wonder if a few simple props would enhance the dramatic effect of the concert.  Of course doing it this way makes touring simpler.

It was a warm day (high 50s), and I walked from Penn Station to Carnegie Hall.  The concert ended at around 5:40 pm, so I had to hustle to catch the 6:07 pm train.  I made it with 3 minutes to spare, but "police action" (announced by conductor) delayed the departure for about 10 minutes.

Orchestra of St. Luke's. Christmas Oratorio. Bernard Labadie. December 7, 2023.

Isaac Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall.  Balcony (Seat J5, $28).

End of concert.

Program

Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248 (1734-1735) by J. S. Bach (1685-1750).

Artists

Liv Redpath - Soprano, Avery Amercau - contralto, Andrew Haji, tenor, Joshua Hopkins - baritone

La Chapelle de Quebec

A recent email promotion offering $25 balcony seat tickets caused me to look into some Carnegie Hall concerts, Bach's Christmas Oratorio - a composition I hadn't known about before - caught my attention.  I was somewhat taken aback when I realized the concert duration was going to be three hours (actual performance time 2 hours 23 minutes).  We couldn't make the 10:23 pm train back to South Amboy, so had to wait around Penn Station until the 11:18 pm train.  Other than that, it was a good evening.

The oratorio was not an "original" composition in that Bach "assembled" (to use the word in the Program Notes) it by adapting his earlier compositions.  The Notes also says many of the original sources are now lost, so I wonder how musicologists can make this claim.  That the Oratorio was assembled would explain why different instruments were used for different constituent cantatas.  For example, timpani were not used in several of the cantatas, and some had horns, and some had trumpets.  For one aria (Part IV, no. 39) a clarinet and a voice were "off-stage" as echoes, to good effect.  We could see the clarinetist, but couldn't find the voice (but noticed her absence in the choir).  The only tune I know was the one from "O Sacred Head Now Wounded" which Bach harmonized from an old tune; it was used both in I (no. 5) and VI (no. 64, the last number, done triumphally).

The Oratorio was written in 1734-1735, with Bach drawing on secular work he wrote for several political occasions in 1733 and 1734 (BWV 213-215 per Program Notes).  Bach did make substantial modifications to the original compositions, and wrote new movements altogether.  (I have no idea how a musicologist would distinguish "new" from "lost.")  For tonight's performance, both a harpsichord and a theorbo were used; I found it difficult to pick out the sounds of these instruments, even though the musicians seemed to be playing often.

Wikipedia has a lengthy article on this Oratorio, and describes the six cantata as follows.  The first three cantatas are for the first three days of Christmas, the fourth for New Year's Day, the fifth for the first Sunday in the New Year, and the sixth for the Feast of Epiphany.  The topics for the cantatas don't exactly match the gospel readings as outlined in the church calendar.  Instead they are I.  The Birth; II. The Announcement to the Shepherds; III.  The Adoration of the Shepherds; IV.  The Circumcision and the naming of Jesus; V.  The Journey of the Magi; and VI.  The Adoration of the Magi.  The first four parts draw their texts mostly from the Gospel of Luke, and Parts V and VI from Matthew.  The first performance of the cycle was Christmas season 1734 through Epiphany Day in 1735.  The complete Oratorio wasn't performed again until 1857.

The acoustics for our seats in the balcony was very good.  On occasion the soloists were a bit on the weak side, especially in the second half.  But there was a lot of singing - especially for the tenor Haji, who also doubled as the Evangelist.  The OSL is on the small side.  I counted 6 violins in each section, and 4 violas.  Labadie started La Chapelle and continues to lead it.  For tonight there were 28 singers.

Intermission was after Part III.

For the Christmas season many organizations perform Messiah, Nutcracker, and a Christmas Carol.  I wonder if the Christmas Oratorio is one of those regulars; if it is, then I am really embarrassed that this is when I first heard it.

Metropolitan Opera. Catan's Florencia en el Amazonas. December 5, 2023.

Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center.  Orchestra (Seat Y101, $122).

Ailyn Perez at curtain call.  The other principal cast members are: The Captain, Arcadio, Rosalba, Riolobo, Alvaro, and Paula.

Story.  See previous post.

Conductor - Yannick Nezet-Seguin; Florencia Grimaldi - Ailyn Perez, Rosalba - Gabriella Reyes, Arcadio - Mario Chang, Paula - Nancy Fabiola Herrera, Alvaro - Michael Chioldi, Captain - Greer Grimsley, Riolobo - Mattia Olivieri.

A while ago a Lincoln Center email offered a 20% discount for the opera.  Because of scheduling issues, only I could get to tonight's performance.

I saw this opera in Washington DC, in 2014, while tagging along with Anne on her business trip.  That time I went by myself also.  While my review of that performance was just so-so, I still remember a few things about it: it was in Spanish, a young Chinese-American woman was the conductor, the set was simple, there was some dancing involved, and the protagonist turns into a butterfly at the end.  Not bad for (as I remember it) a last-minute decision.  The story is simple enough that I didn't get very confused.  The opera also introduced me to the Manaus Opera House, built by industrials (rubber barons) deep in the Amazon.  So, looking back, the opera left a deep impression.

How does the MET production compare?  On paper it looks a lot better, starting with the conductor, a well-seasoned Yannick NS to the young Carolyn Kuan. who was in her 30s when I saw her performance.  The set, while still simple relative to some of MET's elaborate productions, were visually a lot more interesting.  So much so that I missed some of the key elements (e.g., the credits page shows three puppeteers, I saw only two; not important in the scheme of things, I suppose).  One critical difference though: I found tonight's performance a lot more emotionally engaging.

With the overall picture done, let me get into some of the specifics.

Greeting the audience before the opera began was a curtain with a projection of green color and patterns that evoke images of plants.  A representation of the Amazon forest, I suppose.  That green theme would remain throughout the opera, split into two parts to represent the Amazon river.  The stage at that point turned into the deck of El Dorado.  Act II began with a model ship (quite elaborate) on a lilt, as El Dorado ran aground during a storm.  The Manaus Opera House would appear in the background as the boat resumed its journey.  When I saw a huge monarch butterfly drop from the ceiling, I was a bit disappointed, as the butterfly Cristabol was looking for was an Emerald Muse.  Later - for reasons not understood by me - a bunch of flowers (hibiscus?) was lowered from the ceiling.  Transitions from one scene to the other were smoothly executed, kudos to the set design team.  I have seen MET productions with English subtitles projected onto the stage before, but today's took the cake.  All the lyrics (in English) were projected onto the screen, which made following the dialog easy.  I set the seat back screen to Spanish to try to follow the actual lyrics.  To my amusement, I am better with Italian, and looking at the screen made me miss a few props (e.g., I didn't see a third puppeteer).

The curtain here represents the Amazon forest, I suppose.  This theme is used throughout the opera.

The WNO production had the dancers on the main program page.  Here we have the two birds (heron and hummingbird) and the puppeteers.  And there were many dancers involved (see posted photo).  Perhaps to add to the "magical" part of "magical realism," there were dancers who pulled along lotus patches, played the roles of dolphins and fish.  Puppeteers made an iguana, a monkey, and a caiman.  For the macabre moments coffins were dragged onto the stage, and birds became doctors in plague masks.  The iguana being served up as dinner brought a chuckle, as did Arcadio's statement to Rosalba "If I were to fall in love, it would be with you."

At the beginning we had a large ensemble of the chorus, dressed in colorful costumes, singing an introductory number.  That was the only appearance in this opera.  While it was a pleasant addition, it no doubt adds to how expensive these productions can get.  The tunes in the opera remain unsingable, even after hearing them the second time.  Florencia had a long aria at the beginning and the end of the opera, and Perez did an impressive job of expressing the different emotions Florencia experienced; one of hope, one of despair (or perhaps resignation, my take).  Her high quiet notes captured the feeling she felt perfectly.  In general, the women's voices came through better than the men's.  I do wonder if that's the cast, or the acoustics.

At the end of the opera Florencia turns into a butterfly.  If there was going to be a magical moment, one would think this would be it.  In this production, Florencia turns around, a protuberance in her back (not noticed before) grew into a small set of butterfly wings, and the house went dark as she walked offstage.  Somewhat of a disappointment; but at least it wasn't a monarch butterfly!

At the end, Alvaro and Paula renewed their love from each other; Arcadio and Rosalba fell in love; and the Captain saw his wish that his nephew become a sailor fulfilled.  How about Florencia?  Did she find resolution? Happiness? Or is her quest to be reunited with Cristobal continuing?

As a work in the "magical realism" genre, there is a lot less magic to it than I expected (not that that's what I wanted).  Other than the transformation into a butterfly, the other magical moment would be Alvaro coming back after being lost at sea.  By that measure The Nutcracker - just to pick a random example - surely was more "magical."

The group on the left are deck/stage hands.  They were busy moving railings on and off the deck of the ship, and swaying them when the storm hit.  The three characters dressed in black held plague masks in their hands,  The three puppeteers manipulated a monkey, an iguana, and (I have no idea what the first one is).  Behind them are the hummingbird (partially blocked from view) and the heron.  The one in the red dress was a fish, and I forget the roles played by other dancers.

Nezet-Seguin on stage.  He is clearly loved by the audience.  Casual Tuesday, perhaps?

On the train ride up I listened to the Aria Code podcast episode on this opera, and it greatly helped my appreciation of the performance.

Again the opera pigued my interest in this Manaus Opera House.  Not so much that I wanted to visit, at least not yet.

The image shown in the opera is only the front facade of the Manaus Opera House.  The actual building appears to be even more substantial.  (Photo from the web.)

The search for "Emerald Muse Butterfly" returned nothing.  This is an Emerald Swallowtail.  It is native to Southeast Asia, though, so probably isn't the one referenced in this opera.

New York Philharmonic. Semyon Bychkov, conductor; Katia and Marielle Labeque, pianos. December 1, 2023.

David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center.  Orchestra (Seat W05, $80).

The Lebeque sisters, Semyon Bychkov and Bryce Dessner on stage after the piano concerto.  The sisters wear matching outfits with skirts that flare up.  Cute in children, here we have 70+ year old ladies (born in 1950 and 1952).

Program

Don Juan, Tone Poem after Nikolaus Lenau, Op. 20 (1888) by R. Strauss (1864-1949).

Concerto for Two Pianos (2017) by Bryce Dessner (b 1976).

Symphonic Dances, Op. 45 (1940) by Rachmaninoff (1873-1943).

The first remark I made to myself as the concert began was: wow, the New York Phil does have a better sound than NJ Symphony, which I heard yesterday.  There is a high degree in subjectivity to what constitutes good sound: the musical instruments, the precision, and the acoustics of the auditorium.  And in the past I have made the remark Carnegie Hall's sound sometimes is so clean that it would sound "antiseptic."  Whatever the reasons, subjective or objective, I was impressed with how well the sound came across.

The Program Notes mentions Liszt as one of the first composers in the "tone poem" genre.  I don't recall hearing any of Liszt's ever, but Strauss's have made regular appearances in concerts I attend.  Indeed, Don Juan was on the NJ Symphony program in January this year.  One would think the various conquests of the Don would be clear, but I couldn't tell how many were described in the piece, and (to be somewhat prurient) how the conquests were made.  That final thrust of the sword, however, is quite obvious.

The concertmaster (Staples for today) had to play a few solo melodies, and the sound was weaker than I expected, given how dependable she had been in the past.  The ear is a funny thing.  In the NJ Symphony concert Bell acted both as a concertmaster (in Mendelssohn's Overture to Midsummer Night's Dream) and a soloist (his violin concerto).  In the first instance he just blended with the violin section, and in the second instance his violin stood out.  I am sure the orchestra, and he, played the same way in both instances.  (Not quite germane to this blog entry, I know.)

A large ensemble was used in the Don Juan tone poem.

Things got busy on stage between the first and second pieces on the program.  Many chairs were removed for the smaller orchestra, two pianos had to be brought out.  Stage hands (I counted five of them) and librarians (two) were busy getting things ready.  I guess it's not in the musicians' contract for them to carry their own music.

I knew the piano duo Lebeque sisters from simply browsing the internet.  Today's encounter was my first, online or in person.  We had seen Dessner before with the NY Phil, back in 2019, where his composition "Wires" was first performed, and he played the electric guitar.  I was nonplused then.  I was equally nonplused today.  Since the NY Phil invited him back (at least his music), so there had to be something there.

The Concerto had three movements, helpfully named movements 1, 2 and 3.  The two pianos face one another, so one had its lid opening to the audience, the lid for the other one was missing.  I couldn't tell who was Katia, and who was Mariella; that was probably not important.

The opening was exciting enough.  But that excitement didn't last very long; the music just seemed to drone on after the initial several minutes, punctuated every now and then by something lyrical or episodic. The Program Notes has references to Philip Glass and Stravinsky.  To the extent that Glass's music move forward through slow changes, parts of today's concerto was indeed so.  Glass's music had a simplicity that I couldn't find in Dessner's.  Stravinsky?  I don't know what the Stravinsky sound is.

Watching the two pianos at the same time could become cognitive dissonant.  From where I was sitting on the left side of the auditorium, I could see one pair of hands move and correlate what I hear with the movements.  On the other hand, there was piano music coming from the other performer, and I kept wondering how the sound came about.  Perhaps an overhead camera projecting the two pairs of hands onto a screen would help.  Or a seat in the higher tiers where both keyboards can be seen.  As it was, I kept telling myself since the music didn't correspond to the hand movements I saw, it had to come from the other Lebeque sister.  A small orchestra was on stage for this, yet the pianos were still overwhelmed at times.

I caught the headline of the New York Times Review, the reviewer seems to pan this piece.  Not having read the article, I am not completely sure.

It would be a stretch to call Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances, dances; I can't imagine a ballet or dance routine based on the music.  That may well be my limitations.  As music, however, there is much to be liked.  Going over my blog entries, the conductor of a NJ Symphony performance painted a picture of a dance hall with dancers entering and leaving.  Today's Program Notes mentioned Rachmaninoff had considered naming the three movements parts of the day (Noon, Twilight, Midnight; or Morning, Noon, Evening; proving that one can sometimes make arbitrary associations of title to music).  The interesting part for me is still how Dies Irae gets incorporated more and more in the last dance.

End of program.  One obvious difference is the use of a piano in the Rachmaninoff piece.

Bychkov was quite energetic in his conducting, and the orchestra responded well.  I also noticed the NJ Symphony principal bass in the bass section.  She was absent in the NJ Symphony performance yesterday.  Thoughts of "small fish in big pond, big fish in small pond, what is better?" came to mind.

New Jersey Symphony. Joshua Bell leads the NJ Symphony. November 30, 2023.

NJPAC, Newark, NJ.  Orchestra (Seat B104, $73).

Joshua Bell acknowledging the audience's applause after a brilliant Mendelssohn Violin Concerto performance.

Program

Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 21 by Mendelssohn.

Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64 by Mendelssohn.

   (Original cadenza by Joshua Bell)

Symphony No. 4 in B-flat Major, Op. 60 by Beethoven.

It isn't an understatement to say "Joshua Bell leads the NJ Symphony," as claimed in the title of the program.  For the three pieces in the program Bell was the conductor/concertmaster, he was the soloist(naturally)/conductor for the concerto, and he was the conductor for the symphony.

This is one of the best attendance I have seen at a NJ Symphony concert (except for Messiah which take place in much smaller halls), and I am sure the draw for most of the "non-regulars" was Bell, and the concerto he was to perform.

The program annotator (Laurie Shulman) has many words to describe the concerto: mature, virtuosic, pleasant, splendidly successful, and so on. All true.  However, many commentators also consider this a "light-weight" intellectual piece that's not much more than a technical tour-de-force and a crowd pleaser.  Whenever I listen to the concerto, however, I cast all that away and just sit there admiring the composer's genius, and the violinist ability to pull it off.  Shulman's notes describes how Mendelssohn consulted Ferdinand David in writing the concerto.

Of the four classical war-horse violin concertos I can think of, Mendelssohn's probably is the easiest technically.  (The others are Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Brahms; people may have different lists.)  Nonetheless, Bell made the piece sound absolutely beautiful.  The solo violin comes in after a couple of introductory measures, and the Stradivarius simply sounded smooth, clear and brilliant (not an easy combination).  He was very much in his element.  Perhaps just a day in the office for him, but what a day.  The cadenza he composed had a degree of similarity with Mendelsohn's original and sounded it could have been composed by Mendelssohn himself.

During the breaks in the solo violin line, Bell would conduct by swinging his bow with considerable gusto, so much so that I was afraid the bow might hit a stand and break.  He has a similar role with the Academy of St Martin in the Field, I wonder if a conducting career is in his future.

Mendelssohn's genius is often compared with that of Mozart's, both were prolific composers early in their sadly short lives. The overture (simply called a Concert Overture then) was composed  in 1826 when he was 17, and was incorporated into the incidental music composed in 1842  for the actual play.  For this Wyrick "yielded" his seat to Bell.  (Wyrick did return for the rest of the concert.)

One usually expects a lot of "anger" (angst, as used by Shulman, probably is more appropriate) when Beethoven's work is played.  The fourth symphony is different.  My appreciation of the work was greatly enhanced by Shulman's notes.  However, it was also limited by my not having studied the work in advance.  Thus the overall effect was pleasant music punctuated by vignettes I can make out.  I would argue a great performance would bring a narrative to the audience, and today's performance was not at that level.

Bell led the NJ Symphony as conductor and concertmaster for the Overture by Mendelssohn.  He uses a piano bench.

Bell greeting Wyrick at the conclusion of the concert.  Bell did only the conducting.

The NJPAC staff, while friendly, did not handle the large crowd well.  Perhaps the issue was more with the administration.  The auditorium's narrow aisles and few doors mean it take a long time to get a large crowd seated.  As far as I could tell, the audience was let in about 15 minutes before the 1:30 pm start time.  Bell came out a few minutes after 1:30, got the orchestra ready, made a few remarks (e.g., good to have so many people show up, which is true), and then decided to leave and come back out when the audience had settled down.  The concert didn't start until 1:45 pm (or a couple of minutes later).  That was completely avoidable, as I am sure NJPAC had seen full houses before, even for NJ Symphony concerts.

The program was relatively short, so the concert ended at around 3:30 pm.