SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL CONCERT REVIEW
 

Webern, Mozart and Schumann: Leif Ove Andsnes, piano, New York Philharmonic, conductor Alan Gilbert, Avery Fisher Hall, New York City, 30.12.2009 (GG)

 

Webern: Im Sommerwind, Symphony Op. 21
Mozart: Piano Concerto in A major, K. 488
Schumann: Symphony No. 2 in C major, Op. 61

 

It’s fair to look at the New York Philharmonic’s programs this year in terms of what they are doing that’s new under Alan Gilbert their latest Music Director. Gilbert’s appointment was more than just a gesture towards making the orchestra a more relevant part of classical music making in New York City, as he himself is completely dedicated to moving the organization in that direction.

From my perspective as a regular San Francisco Symphony attendee from before Michael Tilson Thomas’ appointment in 1995 until 2007, the experience of seeing a symphony orchestra play music from a variety of eras, including the 20^th and 21^st centuries, as well as hearing an American orchestra play music of American composers, was expected to the point of being unnoticed. The orchestral tradition of classical music spans roughly 300 years and continues each and every day, so of course an ensemble would sample the entire literature. But that is actually a new idea, again, in New York, and audiences are clearly interested in new sounds and new experiences in Avery Fisher Hall. Gilbert is appropriately compared to Tilson Thomas and Esa-Pekka Salonen, two conductors who made their respective orchestras into important ensembles by simply accepting as a matter of course that their tradition includes music from recent and current memory. Gilbert does not have to imitate them, nor do exactly what they have done, but in order to truly compare the New York Philharmonic to those orchestras, and to the other major American and international groups, he has to make both the playing and the programming matter. The orchestra is already playing at a very high level, though not quite at that of San Francisco – arguably the finest orchestra in American right now – but the inherent qualities of musicianship that come from mastering the entire range of the orchestral repertoire will surely help the Philharmonic to become part of the enjoyable argument over who’s better.

This context made the last regular concert of 2009 an odd one, though not a bad one. The layout of the program read as both a précis for the development of musical ideas from the Classical era to the edge of Modernism, along with a concert of simply fine music. The execution and presentation revealed how constructively the orchestra and its audience are in flux, mutually finding their way into new territory in starts and stops and throrougly enjoying the process. Blame it all on Webern, of course.

Im Sommerwind is a capable pastiche of high Romanticism and a statement, retrospectively, about the world Webern came from. It’s Webern before he become the composer, in Stravinsky’s words, “inexorably cutting out his . . . dazzling diamonds, the mines of which he had such a perfect knowledge [sic].” The clarity and edge those words imply is there in the early work, - it was a sound quality vital to the composer - and  even the lush harmonies and overripe gestures are written with a shining transparency. Gilbert led the music with excellent balance, especially impressive in the problematic acoustics of the hall. The opening orchestral pianissimo was an impressive feat of musical skill and expression. After that curtain-raiser, the Webern who matters, of the Op. 21, opened the second half. This was one of the oddities of the evening. Accompanied by Artistic Administrator John Mangum and cellist Eric Bartlett, Gilbert spent a few minutes discussing the piece with the audience. Actually, there was very little discussion of the music itself but quite a lot of apologizing for its qualities.

This was puzzling in many ways. It is odd to think that New York audiences at the end of 2009 have been exposed to so little Webern that Gilbert feels he needs to introduce the work, but some introductions are welcome and valuable. I once saw an audience, unfamiliar with orchestral music but in the hall to hear the Mozart Requiem, burst into sustained, rapturous applause over Giacinto Scelsi’s Aion simply because Tilson Thomas took a few minutes to tell, and have the musicians demonstrate, how that piece of unfamiliar and profoundly avant-garde music worked. The same could have  been done with the Op. 21; a brief delineation of how it was made, perhaps a musician playing the tone-row at its core. Instead, Gilbert said that he “happen(ed) to love the piece,” but couldn’t say why. He said it was “tough,” and that it did have actual melodies in it, honest. There is so much to advocate for in this music, and as long as Gilbert continues to bring unfamiliar music to New York audiences, he should stop apologizing for it and instead tell us positively why the work is on the program.

The performance itself was a little uneven. The musicians seemed as unfamiliar with Webern’s idiom as everyone else, and were clearly concentrating hard in the first part of the piece. The notes and rhythms were there, but the playing was stiff. In the Variations section, however, they gained a sense of comfort and confidence, and played quite well through the rest of this fascinating, concentrated music. The audience, attentive and clearly won over by Gilbert’s sincerity, responded warmly.

There was another oddity in the great Mozart piano concerto, a seemingly fundamental disagreement between conductor and soloist over just how the music would go. The result was some interesting musical tension, carried along and ultimately resolved by Andsnes’ great performance. While Gilbert directed a highly legato, yet still cantabile, accompaniment, Andsnes sliced through the score with a minimum of pedal and a maximum of cleanly delineated phrases and tremendous clarity of sound. He did so at a loping tempo, one actually faster than it seemed because he maintained such a light touch and constantly moved the musical lines to their conclusions. The pianist seemed to challenge the orchestra’s tempo, pushing out slightly ahead and, once they caught up, pushing slightly further. It was concerto as competition and exciting. Andsnes is a tremendous musician, not only skilled at the keyboard but with intelligent opinions about the material. His playing was dense with suggestions and the witty feel of someone tossing off insightful epigrams and questions, wondering how we would react. He played Mozart’s own first movement cadenza and with it showed his bracing commitment to the piece.

Bringing the show to a close was the Schumann symphony, clearly a speciality of the conductor. I saw him conduct it in San Francisco almost ten years ago, and since then he has memorized the score and brought to it he type of freedom and lightness that comes from complete familiarity. Gilbert is able to build tension through developing phrasing, and this works marvelously with the restless movement and transitions of Schumann. The opening movement was quick and intense, with an emphasis on the fanfare side of the sublime polyphony. His handling of the complex phrasing in the Scherzo was superb, and the emotional tone of the Adagio seemed the perfect balance between warmth and pathos, never once too sentimental, and he paid great musical care to the cadential cello line. The finale just kept getting better and better with every bar, and Gilbert brought the symphony to a close with a satisfying sense of sweetness. An aptly good-natured close to the well-meaning oddness of the evening.

 

George Grella