SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Pintscher, Bartók, Debussy: Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Mitsuko Uchida (piano), Pierre Boulez (conductor), Carnegie Hall, New York, 25.2.2008 (BH)

Matthias Pintscher: Osiris (2007, New York premiere)
Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 3 (1945)
Debussy: Images (1905-1912)


It's easy to see why Pierre Boulez would be attracted to Matthias Pintscher (b. 1971), whose music seems more skillful with each hearing.  Inspired by a Joseph Beuys canvas using small pieces of cardboard scattered about, Osiris also muses on the god of fertility, murdered by his brother Seth and later reconstructed by Isis, and in a similar way the music seems like a large object crushed into many small pieces and then reassembled, to glittering effect.  After hearing the Cleveland Orchestra unleash the composer's masterful Five Pieces for Orchestra last year, I'm impressed with Pintscher's ability to mine an ensemble's mother lode of crystals, rocks and metal.  He combines thousands of small details, from scurrying glissandi and wind blips to imaginative percussion effects that can suddenly explode into cracking and splitting sounds or die out, as the final measures do, in what sounded like a whisper of sandpaper.  With each instrument given its moments of glory, the precision work of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra sold this piece as well as anyone could want, and at 22 minutes, Osiris feels just the right length.  Since here Chicago jointly commissioned the piece with the London Symphony Orchestra and Carnegie Hall, I hope someone will record it for closer scrutiny.

Bartók wrote his Third Piano Concerto for his wife, but died before ever hearing it performed, and unlike the more percussive first two concertos, designed for his own stiletto style, this one is more lyrical, with more poetry than power.  I thought Mitsuko Uchida generally found the right tone, although even more force might have been welcome.  At first the opening movement's serenity made me long for just a little more thrust, but Uchida's fluidity sold me, coupled with the adroitly judged accompaniment in the orchestra.  The brief, shadow-filled second movement was heavenly, and in the final allegro vivace, Boulez, Uchida and the orchestra punched out the accents with glorious swagger.

Why is Boulez so successful with Debussy?  While some conductors can't seem to locate the composer's ethereal hovering quality, here the textures seem to drip from his fingers.  His matter-of-fact attention almost seems at odds with the sensuous result, and in the "Rondes de printemps" of Images, he and the Chicago players conjured up huge, sweeping clouds of detail.  In glorious contrast, he middle "Gigues" found just the right line between surging energy and nocturnal laziness.  And in the final "Ibéria" Boulez managed one voluptuous attack after another, never harsh, and lush but always clear: sunlight pouring through tall windows, in one slinky climax after another.

Bruce Hodges


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