Count Basie Theater, Red Bank, NJ. Balcony (Seat G113, $45).
Conrad Tao and Xian Zhang after the performance of Rachmaninoff 2.
Program
Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18 by Rachmaninoff (1873-1943).
Symphony No. 5 in D Minor, Op. 47 by Shostakovich (1906-1975).
This is the last series of concerts for this NJ Symphony season, and we have two war horses on the program.
Perhaps to the detriment to the appreciation of his overall compositional skills, one thinks of nice melodies and virtuoso techniques whenever a Rachmaninoff piece is performed. Today's performance was no exception - the pianist put in a delightful performance, and his virtuosity was on full display. Even though I am reasonably familiar with the work, I still couldn't get beyond singing (no sound) to the tunes and marveling at how easy Tao made it look. Every now and then I could move back a little and enjoy how cleverly the piece was structured; those moments were few and fast between. Nothing wrong with that, I suppose.
We are quite familiar with Conrad Tao's name, but I am quite sure this was the first time we saw him perform. (Anne thought we had seen him before, but she is not writing this.) I do remember listening to one of his compositions performed by the Hong Kong Philharmonic; that was back in 2017.
For encore he played a "transcription" (if I remember what he said correctly) of Over the Rainbow as played by Art Tatum, a jazzy rendition of the well-known song from Wizard of Oz that came out in 1939. (Google filled in some of the details.)
2025 is the 50th anniversary of Shostakovich's death, so one would expect orchestras to program his composition in their concerts. I find it a bit surprising this is only the 4th concert so far this year for me. We will see what the start of the 2025 Fall season brings.
The fifth symphony is considered the most popular of Shostakovich's fifteen symphonies. He was denounced in the Soviet press for his opera Lady Macbeth of Mtmensk (many think the critical article in Pravda was written by Stalin himself); and, given the fate suffered by many of his fellow musicians at that time, Shostakovich supposedly packed a suitcase should agents appear at his front door at any time to arrest (and possibly disappear) him. He wrote this symphony in a way the authorities wanted and to rehabilitate himself. With any of Shostakovich's work, musicologists and historians (professional or otherwise) can't seem to resist debating what kind of political message was being expressed directly or indirectly, and how much sarcasm was intended. Ostensibly patriotic passages mean Shostakovich was on board with the authorities' view of "good music," or were they meant to be caricatures of the outward obsequiousness? Interesting ideas that often lead me down various rabbit holes, but the fact is Shostakovich did not provide much guidance on how his music should be interpreted. For this symphony, however, I will posit he meant to sound patriotic. It possibly would be fatal for him if the authorities suspect any sarcasm or disloyalty in what he wrote; that would apply even if his intentions were misinterpreted. Shostakovich is said to have described the fourth movement as "forced rejoicing," but the authenticity of the account is questioned by many; and in any case the remark came out after Shostakovich died.
I prepared for this concert by listening to the two episodes on the Symphony in the Sticky Notes podcast, and reading the Program Notes on the NJ Symphony website. Much of what I wrote in the previous paragraph was lifted from these sources. Alas, that didn't make this a great listening experience. I was so intent on "deciphering" the music that I missed the music itself; that may be too harsh, but at a minimum I missed enjoying the music for its own sake. That was quite different from what I experienced when I heard the Eighth Symphony last month (BSO).
An unusually large orchestra was used for this performance. I counted 14 first violins and maybe 10 second violins, for instance. That the orchestra can pull this off with precision is something I couldn't imagine happening a few years ago, so that's great. Many woodwind and brass instruments had to come in by themselves, against a large ensemble, and I thought they generally acquitted themselves quite well. The volume range was large, and at its loudest my ears hurt (slight exaggeration), so I can imagine how the volume affected those on stage.
Shostakovich described this work as "... the development of the individual. I saw man with all this sufferings as the central ideas of the work, which is lyrical in mood from start to finish. The finale resolves the tragedy and tension of the earlier movements on a joyous, optimistic note." Fair enough, although it is difficult to hear the last movement and not think "glorious homeland," perhaps spiced with a dose of sarcasm. I wonder if the quote (in the Program Notes) was published after persecution stopped. One thing for sure, he described it as "a Soviet artists creative reply to just criticism."
A large orchestra was used to perform the Shostakovich Symphony.
Well, I sound like one of "those people," or someone who pretends to be one.
Four other people we know also attended the concert, and we ate at Juanito's before the event. Anne and I got rained on a bit by the forecasted "light rain."
The event was one of the best attended I have seen in NJ, which was encouraging. The applause was also enthusiastic.
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