In his first Carnegie appearance
since his appointment with the outstanding
Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
offered a generous program of 20th
century Russian works. The opener, the brief,
seldom done Symphonies of Wind Instruments,
had a reverence not unwelcome in a space still
reeling from the unexpected death of Robert
Harth. Although this piece had probably been
planned long before, it was hard not to hear
it as another elegy for the much-revered head
of Carnegie Hall.
The mood became considerably
less somber when Salerno-Sonnenberg took the
stage, looking rock-star chic in glittering
black pants and a black-and-white shirt. I
heard her do this same piece about ten years
ago with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and am
happy to report that she is still virtually
unsurpassed in mining its lodes of mourning
and franticness. If others have also mastered
its astonishing heights – in the past year
I’ve heard versions by Hilary Hahn, Maxim
Vengerov and Vadim Repin – her feeling for
the piece is quite clear. If nothing else,
her sheer stance – legs wide apart, now rocking
back and forth, now planted firmly onstage
– announced all-out combat with one of the
most formidable works a violinist can encounter.
Whether in the skittering high spirits of
the Scherzo, or the deeply meditative
third-movement cadenza that then hurls itself
into the raging final Burlesca, Salerno-Sonnenberg
obviously loves this piece and attacked it
with pit bull ferocity. What some classical
listeners find off-putting, I think, is the
way she makes her wrestling with the music
so obvious, but this is one piece with which
to wrestle unapologetically, and I find her
volatile temperament a perfect mate.
From the bracing beginning
of the Prokofiev, Vänskä’s intensity
consistently impressed, whether in the feverish
string passages when Tybalt and Mercutio
Fight or the tender Death of Juliet
that ended the suite. As in the rest of the
evening, I was struck over and over by the
commitment of these fine musicians, having
heard them last year in a towering Mahler
Eighth Symphony. Again and again, hearing
some of the United States’ many orchestras,
I think the term "The Big Five"
should be finally and decisively consigned
to music history. Certainly the Minnesota
group plays as fearless as they come on the
occasions I’ve heard them, so I’ll play the
optimist and predict that Vänskä
and the orchestra will make their new partnership
an increasingly potent force. Not many orchestras
would use this appearance to kick off an impressive
European tour that includes a concert version
of Bartók’s Duke Bluebeard’s
Castle.
With three encores prepared,
the enthusiastic crowd wanted them all: the
March from Prokofiev’s Love for
Three Oranges, followed by the Aragonaise
from Massenet’s Le Cid, and for
the finale the traditional Finnish favorite,
the Sakkijarven Polka, arranged with
more than a little wit by Mr. Vänskä.
Bruce Hodges
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