Hadelich after performing Barber's Violin Concerto, with Slobodeniouk looking on from the podium.
Program
Stonework (2014-15) by Fagerlund (b. 1972).
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 14 (1939-40; rev. 1948) by Barber (1910-81).
Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 43 (1901-02) by Sibelius (1865-1957).
As Anne observed, this was a mostly Finnish program. The Program Notes describes Sebastian Fagerlund as a musical descendant of Sibelius, and him being known for his abstract orchestral compositions "like Sibelius and Lindberg." (I see a few problems there ...) Stonework is part of a trilogy that is inspired by Nordic nature. While Fagerlund grasped that only upon the completion of the three works, tonight's audience had the benefit of the description; so much so that "what else could it be describing?" popped into my head. The opening measures, characterized as a "broad, harmonic-melodic" motif, are indeed present in various forms (some not so obvious) throughout the 15-minute piece. Frankly I didn't get a lot beyond the images of presumably rugged Nordic landscape (think fjords) from the piece. That it was "an impressionistic neo-noir where echoes of electronic dance music rattle around ancestral mausoleums, post-punk and Sibelius join in trancelike harmony, and new and old converge" completely escaped this first-time listener.
Fagerlund came on stage after the performance of his Stonework.
The other Finnish piece was Sibelius's second symphony. I am embarrassed to say while I have some familiarity with Sibelius's symphonies, I cannot tell definitively which is which. (Somewhat like my knowledge of Rachmaninoff's piano concertos, I can tell it's by the composer, but can't say definitively which one.) So listening to tonight's performance was interesting in a way: when a familiar melody hit, I would say, ah, this is where it belongs. Various musicologists have attributed different story lines to the movements of the symphony, all of which Sibelius rejected. Nonetheless, that these story lines continue to be told means people still find them helpful. The music is indeed mostly "abstract," that a final resolution comes (for the entire symphony) at the end brings to that conclusion a lot of satisfaction. Famously, Tchaikovsky quoted his mentor Rimsky-Korsakov's comment "Well, I suppose that's possible, too," implying perhaps Sibelius did march to a different drummer.
This piece has to be quite a challenge for the orchestra. Some of the passages are fast, and the tempo seems to change every few measures. The New York Phil managed to make this an exquisite experience.
After the Sibelius Symphony.
The four movements of the symphony are (1) Allegretto - Poco allegro - Tranquillo, ma poco a poco ravvivando il tempo al allegro; (2) Tempo andante, ma rubato - Andante sostenuto; (3) Vivacissimo - Lento e suave - Largamente; and (4) Finale: Allegro moderato.
Another confusion I often have is the Barber and Bartok violin concertos. In my mind one was a lot easier to get than the other; but I often forget which one. The "easier to get" certainly applies to the first two movements of the Barber concerto. Even though written around 1940, the first two movements definitely have a romantic feel to them. The melodies are hummable, the harmonies quite traditional, and the structures easily tracked. The third movement, on the other hand, sounded just like a difficult etude for the violin (and the orchestra).
There is a story behind how the concerto came to be. It was initially commissioned for the violinist Iso Briselli for $10,000. That translates to about $24,000 today, pretty low by my reckoning. Eventually Briselli withdrew as the premiere performer, and the soloist was Albert Spalding.
The Stickynotes Podcast (by Joshua Weilerstein) compares the oboe solo in the second movement to the one in Brahms, which is a bit of an oversell. The third movement did give the violinist a workout, with two breaks (one quite short) so he could take a breath.
The three movements are Allegro, Andante, and Presto in moto perpetuo.
Hadelich plays a Guarneri which projected well against a rather large orchestra. As a lot of the solo music is in the middle registers, that is (supposedly) difficult to pull off, which speaks highly of the musicians involved. Even for the third movement, with all the pyrotechnics, that wasn't an issue.
This was by no means a "moderately sized" orchestra. The combination worked well.
Google couldn't identify the encore Hadelich played. It is best described as blue-grass like, and sounded a group of fiddlers playing together. I got the feeling the audience was glad it was over, though.
All in all, I enjoyed the concert a lot more than I thought I would. Since we had some time before the train, we bought some street food before we headed to Penn Station.
