SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Chicago Dvořák Festival 2009 - American Quintet, The Midday Witch, and Symphony no. 3 :  Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Emerson String Quartet [and] Paul Neubauer, viola, Sir Mark Elder, CBE, conductor, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Center, Chicago 13.6.2009 (JLZ). 

Anton Dvořák: String Quintet no. 2 in E-flat major, Op. 97
Anton Dvořák: The  Midday Witch, Op. 108
Anton Dvořák: Symphony no. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 10
[Post-Concert: Anton Dvořak: Serenade for Winds in D minor, Op. 44 ]


As Sir Mark Elder commented at the opening of Saturday evening's program for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Dvořak Festival, venues like this provide opportunities to hear music with fresh ears, and this concert was an excellent opportunity for this to occur. To its credit, Symphony Center did not limit the festival to orchestral works, but allowed for various ensembles to participate. In this evening's program, the Emerson String Quartet with the addition of Paul Neubauer, viola, offererd a stark contrast to the usually filled stage. Yet the "American" Quintet as it is known, is a fine example of music from the composer's maturity, filled with ideas that Dvořák explored during his visit to the United States. The title ascribed to the Op. 97 Quintet helps to identify the genesis of the work and the nature of some of its music, but it should not be taken as something programmatic. Nevertheless some of the the thematic material does resemble phrases that the composer would explore in his Ninth Symphony "From the New World." As thoughtfully as the ensemble performed this work, they never allowed any of the ‘ imported’ materials to sound out of place or to convey any sense of caricature. The first movement was rivetting from the start, in an almost perfect reading of the score. The second movement was notable for the rich viola sound with which it opened, which set the tone for the whole piece. With the third movement, a similarly cohesiveness was apparent not only in the main sections, but the transitions between them. With the Finale, Dvořák continues to explored ideas clearly informed by his experience in America, and yet retains his stylistic imprint. This performance was as commanding as anything that the Emersons are known for.

The second half of the program involved two orchestral works, the late tone poem The Midday Witch, Op. 108, which is part of a series of programmatic works Dvořák composed in 1896. The folktale that inspired the work is another of the harrowing stories of a child's death with a lineage from Goethe's poem Erlkönig so well known in Schubert's setting, or from less familiar ones, like Mahler's Wunderhorn setting of the poem Verspätung as Das irdische Leben. In invoking a noon-time witch, the frustrated mother of a disobedient child has no idea that her scoldings could conjure the evil spirit yet after the witch dances around the table, the mother is left in a swoon and the child is gone. The return of the father for his lunch allows the composer to bring out the true horror of the situation. It was good for Elder to remind the audience of the story in his engaging style, but it was even more impressive to hear his interpretation of the work. As much as it is possible to find solid recordings of this tone poem, this live performance was characterized by a fine sense of timing that allowed the various elements of this piece to emerge clearly. The intensity of the witch's dance was definitely menacing, and yet Elder's approach to the final section telegraphed an appropriate level of horror and tragedy.

Elder brought a similar attention to detail and larger structure to Dvořák's Third Symphony, a work he composed in 1873 and premiered in 1874. This score won Dvořák the support of Brahms, who recommended it for a composition prize. While this was one of the four early symphonies that were never published by the composer, it is nevertheless a polished work of Dvořák's early years. Unique among his symphonies for its three-movement structure, it also stands apart from Dvořak's other works in the genre because of its overt allusions to Wagner's music, an element that has a parallel in another work composed at this time, Bruckner's own Third Symphony, often referred to as the Wagner Symphony. While the influence of ideas from Tannhaűser, Das Rheingold, and other works may be found in some of the themes Dvořák uses in his Third Symphony, so too does his own style emerge clearly in this early score. In his interpretation of the first movement, Elder made the sonata structure apparent in his keen sense of phrasing and phrase structure. At the same time he also brought out the distinctive timbres that help to characterize the work, especially the string textures at its core. The second movement is particularly effective too, as the elements of the funeral march, an element of the Romantic symphony which has its origins with Beethoven, develop into a more triumphant expression of mood. Elder allowed thist sentiment to color the Finale. If the sounds at the beginning of the Symphony called attention to its composer's appreciation for Wagner, the final movement is clearly Dvořák's own, with any influences convincingly subsumed into an idiomatic orchestral style. This was an inviting performance of a score that deserves to be heard more often.

While the concert proper ended with the Third Symphony, the Chicago Symphony offered yet one further work for those who wished to stay on afterwards. Once the stage was reset, audience members were allowed to sit around it for a performance of Dvořák's Wind Serenade, Op. 44. This work for 13 performers offered yet another aspect of the composer's style in its evocation of folk wind-band music. The idiosyncratic score for paired oboes, clarinets, bassoons, along with contrabassoon, cello, contrabass, and four horns, may well represent Czech village ensembles. Conducted by Peter Bay, this performance was a fine addition to the program and its inclusion in the concert helped reinforce the celebratory nature of the CSO's Festival. Such programming offers everyone fresh perspectives on Dvořák's music and also allows the performers to further explore the many riches of this sometimes under-represented composer. The selection of music for these programs is invariably matched by exemplary execution in this memorable Festival.

James L Zychowicz


Back to Top                                                    Cumulative Index Page