New Jersey Symphony. Xian Zhang, conductor; Augustin Hadelich, violin. January 13, 2024.

Count Basie Center, Red Bank, NJ.  Orchestra (Seat H-104,  $68).

Augustin Hadelich and Xian Zhang after the Beethoven Violin Concerto.

Program

I am a white person who __ Black people by Daniel Bernard Roumain

Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61 by Beethoven.

Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky/Ravel.

The main draw for the program is of course Hadelich performing the Beethoven violin concerto.  Indeed that's the headline on the Program Notes handed out at the concert.  For me the Mussorgsky/Ravel piece is also interesting on two fronts: the music itself is very enjoyable; and, having listened to it at a NY Phil concert a couple of months prior, I wonder how NJS would compare.

Roumain (DBR) is NJ Symphony's "Resident Artistic Catalyst."  No idea what the job description is, but seeing his work on the program would not surprise anyone.  He did come on the stage to talk a bit about the work.  It was composed for the NJ Symphony's 2020-21 virtual season, at a time of great racial tension in the country.  DBR was unexpectedly conciliatory, acknowledging that much progress has been made.  Not being "white" or "Black" (note the difference in capitalization), and being an immigrant, I must admit a lot of the issues are beyond my comprehension; DBR's words indicate things are at least moving the the right direction.

The downside of this, of course, is the piece loses its sting (if it was meant to carry a sting) somewhat.  The piece was originally written for strings and percussion due to pandemic restrictions, for the current program DBR reorchestrated with instruments used in the Beethoven violin concerto.  Even though I did see the original version, on line, the differences escape me.  However, Beethoven used only the timpani in his work, whereas I heard other percussion instruments (confirmed by Program Notes).

DBR after performance of his composition.

There are several violinists I will go to great lengths to see, and Hadelich is definitely one of them.  Given the relatively good attendance tonight, that holds true for many others as well.  He didn't disappoint.  If one looks at the score, the violinist finds a lot of scales, arpeggios, and double stops in front of him, technically challenging, but certainly doable.  What makes for a good performance is how these are strung together into a story.  And it was beautifully done today.

Hadelich plays a Guarneri violin, which worked very well in today's setting, Count Basie being a mid-sized auditorium.  His playing reminds me of how Buchbinder did it with Beethoven's piano concerts (No. 5 and 4) - effortless, in great partnership with the orchestra.  In this case one can add how clear the violin sounded, and how great the intonation was.  If there were any problems with intonation, they would be in the single-digit (hertz-wise) category; and that would depend on how one thinks of pitch (the piano term is "equal temperament").

For an encore Hadelich played a piece with a "blue grass" feel to it.

I don't think it is controversial to say that the NJ Symphony doesn't have the same quality "sound" as the New York Philharmonic.  That puts them at a disadvantage if one were to compare the two orchestras.  Naturally the NY Phil is no slouch when it comes to interpretation, either.

But, sometimes there are exceptions.  The Mussorgsky Pictures is one (well, he's called Musorgsky by NY).  My initial reaction was the sounded wasn't as pristine, but as the piece progressed I began to appreciate how well the "picture" (pun intended) was being painted.  For the NY performance I said "no need to know where one is in the music," and it turns out one can follow the program along and have a better experience.

It was a very enjoyable performance of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.

The principal bass performs with the NY Phil quite often.  I notice one of the violinist also bears great resemblance to a NY Phil player.  I wonder how they compare the two performances.  For me, this was an entirely memorable concert.

New York Philharmonic. Jaap van Zweden, conductor; Rudolf Buchbinder, piano. January 5, 2023.

David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center.  Orchestra (Seat U5, $80).

Van Zweden and Buchbinder at the conclusion of the Beethoven Concerto.

Program

Prelude to Act I of the Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg (1862-67) by Wagner (1813-83).

Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58 (1806) by Beethoven (1770-1827).

Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98 (1884-85) by Brahms (1833-97).

The first thing I noticed about the program is it consists of well-known, traditional pieces, with nothing from a contemporary composer.  A left-brain program, as I call it.  Worked for me, and - from the NY Times reviewer's headline - worked for some critics as well.

Beethoven's piano concerto was the one that was of most interest.  I saw the van Zweden/Buchbinder combination in Hong Kong back in September, 2023.  It was Beethoven's Emperor Concerto, and I had a lot of good things to say about it.  While the 4th may be less "substantial," it was still a formidable piece of music.  The same remarks I made about the Hong Kong performance hold true today also: effortless, great cooperation.  Of course one has to take the "whole package" and not the individual components, but I do wonder if the performance(s) could be more agitated, and how that would come across - Nobuyuki Tsujii performing with Orpheus Chamber comes to mind.

If the conclusion is that the HK Phil performance was as good as today's, that would not be wrong in my book.

The Program Notes mentions some musicologists feel Beethoven might have had Orpheus in mind when he wrote this concerto.  Fascinating, but I couldn't tell.

Brahms' fourth starts with these well-known themes that he worked over multiple times, expanding, inverting, transposing (and other terms).  As with my other reviews of the piece, the fourth movement still sounded unfamiliar, except for a couple of melodies.  I shall find the time to listen to it a few times.  The Program Notes says it's 32 variations on a theme by Bach.

The prelude of Wagner was written between his Ring operas.  The harp was used in this work, but for only a short episode - I didn't see it played at all.  The harpist shows up for all these concerts, and plays for (say) a minute.  Of course she is then free to leave.

In any case, I don't know what to make of overtures.  Some are enjoyable, some not so much.  Today's was somewhere in between.

The harp was used in the Prelude by Wagner.

At the conclusion of the concert.  The harp was removed during intermission, it still stuck around during the Beethoven concerto (although not used).

I walked up from the Penn Station to Lincoln Center.  Anne took the subway.  Since the 1 line had disruptive service, she had to get off at the Columbus Station.  To return we had to walk to that station, and we got on a downtown train with a stop at Greely Square (instead of 8th/33rd), so we didn't make the 4:27 pm train.  The next train was 5:01, so we didn't have to wait long.