I rarely take time during intermission at a St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) concert to fire off a post on Facebook, but last night’s (December 6) was a notable exception. With guest conductor John Storgårds at the podium, the local debut of Austrian cellist Kian Soltani in the Cello Concerto in C major, Hob. VIIb:1 by Joseph Haydn (1732–1809) was a dazzler.
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| Cellist Kian Soltani |
Soltani, judging from this performance, has stunning technique and heart to go with it. The jovial march-like tune of the Moderato first movement radiated exuberance and the cadenza was a jaw-dropping display of virtuosity. The Adagio was all gentle contemplation, and the final Allegretto Molto was replete with the kind of good-humored energy one expects from the composer’s fast movements.
The finale was clearly intended as a showpiece for the original soloist Joeph Franz Weigl, who was the principal cellist of Prince Nicolaus's Esterházy Orchestra at the time. Weigl was an innovative virtuoso, noted for his high-speed runs up and down the fingerboard using the “thumb position technique”—an “advanced and comparatively new technique” at the time. That makes this movement (and the concerto in general, for that matter) a chance for the soloist to shine—which is exactly what Soltani did.
All of this was delivered with a passionate commitment on the part of both Soltani and Storgårds. It was the kind of performance that demanded the standing ovation it got.
Returning for an encore Soltani, mischievous grin in place, asked the audience “slow or fast?” And then offered to do both.
The slow piece was “The Girl from Shiraz,” the third of the seven Persian Folk Songs by contemporary Iranian composer Reza Valli (b. 1952), with a steady drone by the SLSO cello section replacing the original piano part. The melismatic tune floated and danced above that drone hypnotically. The fast number was an abbreviated version of Soltani’s own Persian Fire Dance, which with a blazing display more than lived up to its title. You can hear him perform both on this 2018 Deutsche Gramophon disc Home.
The concerts opened with the Three Romances, Op. 22, by Clara Schumann (1819–1896) in an orchestral transcription by contemporary Danish composer Benjamin de Murashkin (b. 1981). First performed in 2021 by Storgårds and the Copenhagen Philharmonic, the de Murashkin significantly transforms the original with the intent of creating “something that sounds like it was always ‘meant to be’ rather than orchestrated piano music.”
In this, he has succeeded quite brilliantly. If I had not heard Schumann’s original, I doubt I would have guessed that this music had ever been anything other than a work for small orchestra. The piano and violin parts have been so thoroughly extracted and reassigned that at no point did it sound as if it had been intended for a different instrument. The themes flitted among the various sections in a manner slightly reminiscent of the Klangfarbenmelodie orchestrations of Anton Webern (1883–1945). It was a bit disorienting but entrancing all the same.
Speaking of disorienting music, the concerts concluded with the featured work of the evening, the Symphony No. 15 in A major, Op. 141, by Dimitri Shostakovich (1906–1975). The composer began work on the last and most enigmatic of his symphonies while he was hospitalized in 1971 (he would die of lung cancer four years later) and later completed at his home. “It’s one of those works that just completely carried me away,” he said in a 1973 interview, “and maybe even one of my few compositions that seemed completely clear to me from the first note to the last.” Critical and audience response to it, though, has been all over the map.
It's profoundly odd music that stubbornly resists verbal description, but I’ll do my best. The Allegretto first movement, according to the composer, “is as if played in a toy store.” It opens with two notes on the glockenspiel followed by a long flute solo based on the notes D, E-flat, C, and B. It’s the composer’s signature in German musical notation (D, S, C, H)—and proves to be the basis for around eight minutes of music that’s both whimsical and demented. When the galop from the William Tell overture pops up (one of many musical quotations in the symphony, including a few from Shostakovich himself) it feels completely natural—largely because Shostakovich has been hinting at it for some time.
The solemn second movement, Adagio, alternates brass and string chorales with agonized cello passages. There’s a dirge for trombone and tuba, some chillingly dissonant chords in the woodwinds, and a massive orchestral outburst about two-thirds of the way through. It feels like towering icebergs floating on a dark ocean.
A brief, sardonic Allegretto includes a violin solo that seems to have wandered in from Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, mechanically ticking percussion passages (prominently featuring wood block, snare drum, and xylophone), and snarling outbursts from the woodwinds and brasses.
The descent into the finale (Adagio – Allegretto) follows without pause. Quotes from Wagner—the “fate” motive and rhythm of “Seigfried’s Funeral March” from the Ring cycle—lead to a whimsical dance-like theme. That theme is supplanted by an ominous pizzicato motif in the low strings which proves to be the basis of a long passacaglia. It all builds to a final, massive howl of anguish and outrage that gives way to the little dance theme. Finally, we’re left with fleeting bits and pieces of melody, clicking percussion, and a sad little chord on glockenspiel and celesta over a string pedal point.
“The rest,” as Shakespeare wrote, “is silence.”
What does it all mean? In The Joy of Music, Leonard Bernstein suggested that the meaning of a great work of music can’t always be expressed properly in words. I can’t disagree. The Symphony No. 15 makes sense to me. But, as I just demonstrated, I can’t verbalize exactly why.
I can, however, say why I was left so deeply moved and impressed by this performance. Shostakovich’s score calls for a huge ensemble, but most of what we hear comes from soloists and small ensembles. The SLSO musicians proved their mettle in those many highly exposed sections. That includes (but is not limited to) Jennifer Nitchman and Associate Principal Andrea Kaplan on flutes, Gloria Yun on piccolo, bassoonists Ellen Connors and Principal Andrew Cuneo, Principal Trombonist Jonathan Randazzo, Chance Trottman-Huiet on tuba, Associate Principal Cellist Melissa Brooks, Associate Concertmaster Erin Schreiber, Principal Double Bass Erik Harris, and the horns under Principal Roger Kaza.
And then there’s the percussion of the section. In addition to the tympani (played by Principal Shannon Wood with his customary expertise) Shostakovich calls for a massive percussion battery, including triangle, castanets, woodblock, whip, tom-tom, tam-tam, glockenspiel, xylophone, vibraphone, and the usual bass and snare drums. As Principal Percussionist Will James said on the SLSO’s Noted podcast, the placement of all those instruments on the Powell Hall stage is a logistical challenge.
He and the other five members of the section (Alan Stewart, Kevin Ritenauer, Charles Renneker, Kim Shelley, and Zachary Crystal) met that challenge brilliantly. All of the composer’s wide range of percussive effects came through clearly and precisely. Kudos are due all around.
Holding this monumental musical structure together was the sure hand and keen ear of John Storgårds. This can’t be an easy work to conduct, with its sprawling structure levels of enigmatic meaning. But he made a strong case for it, delivering a reading that was overwhelming in its power. If you missed last weekend’s performances, the Saturday concert will be available for streaming later this week at the SLSO web site, where it will remain for the next month.
Upcoming: Nicholas McGegan returns to town to conduct the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chorus along with vocal soloists in Handel’s evergreen Messiah. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 7:30 pm and Sunday at 3 pm, December 12, 13, and 14.
The Saturday concert will be broadcast live on St. Louis Public Radio and on Classic 107.3. Classic 107.3 is also where you can hear Tom Sudholt and I host the Symphony Preview episode about the concert on Wednesday, December 10, from 8 to 10 pm.
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