Review: A trio of symphonic losers make for a winning combination at the SLSO

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

Conductor Jakub Hrusa
Photo courtesy of St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra concerts this weekend (March 29-31, 2019) featured three works that critics didn't like much when they were first performed. History has proved the critics wrong, and this critic was very happy with the performances Friday night of Bartók's "The Miraculous Mandarin" ballet suite, Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, and Shostakovich's eccentric Symphony No. 9.

[Find out more about the music with my symphony preview.]

First performed in Cologne, Germany, in November 1926, "The Miraculous Mandarin" encountered a firestorm of controversy largely because of its sordid and violent scenario about a trio of thugs who force a young woman to lure men to their lair for robbery--until the titular Mandarin proves to be more than a match for them.

The fact that it's a harsh, discordant, and technically challenging score did not help matters. Bartók said his intent was to write "hellish music" that would "sound like pandemonium," and there's no doubt that he succeeded.

This is tricky stuff, with shifting meters, oddly placed accents, complex fugal sections, rapid passages for the strings that span wide intervals, and difficult bits for the woodwinds. The first-chair clarinet, in particular, has a series of increasingly elaborate, melismatic solos that depict the woman's seductive dances. This is, in short, music that requires a skilled orchestra and a conductor who knows his way around Bartók's musical maze.

In his debut with the SLSO, Jakub Hrusa certainly proved to be that kind of conductor Friday night. The frenetic opening passages were precise and incisive, the contrapuntal sections were wonderfully clear, and the entire performance was electrifying in its intensity. Associate Principal Clarinet Diana Haskell really nailed her solos, backed up with equal skill by Benjamin Adler on E-flat clarinet and Tzuying Huang on bass clarinet. Also due for a shout-out are Jelena Dirks on oboe, Cally Banham on English horn, and Peter Henderson on piano.

In fact, the only negative aspect to the performance came not from orchestra but from the audience, when the performance was disrupted by someone's cell phone loudly playing the "Bourée" from Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 4. Mr. Hrusa stopped the music while the offending instrument was silenced. Seriously, people: what part of "turn off your cell phone" is unclear to you?

Violinist Karen Gomyo
Photo courtesy of St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

The performance of Tchaikovsky's 1878 Violin Concerto that followed was interrupted as well, but for far more positive reasons. Soloist Karen Gomyo was so technically pristine and warmly expressive in the first movement that the house burst into a spontaneous standing ovation at the end of it. Her cadenza was especially stunning, with supernaturally clear high harmonics and passionate intensity. Yes, contemporary concert etiquette says you're not supposed to applaud between movements but, as my wife remarked during the ovation, sometimes you just can't restrain your enthusiasm.

Both Ms. Gomyo and Mr. Hrusa found a lot of variety in this well-loved warhorse, with interesting little turns of phrase and well-chosen moments in which the music was allowed to pause and breathe a bit. Ms. Gomyo's tone was big and forceful when needed, but also elegant and intimate in the elegiac second movement. Her bravura rendition of the Allegro vivacissimo finale led to another standing ovation, followed by a darkly dramatic encore: the third of Astor Piazzolla's six Tango-Etudes.

Shostakovich's Symphony No. 9, which concludes this weekend's concerts, actually got some decent notices when it was first performed in 1945, but that quickly changed when Stalin decreed it insufficiently triumphal. He was expecting a grand patriotic celebration of the victory over Hitler. Instead he got a bouncy, snarkily comic, and elegant work just under a half-hour long that sometimes sounded like Haydn on steroids. He was not amused.

But amusing the symphony often is. Yes, the second of its five movements is wistfully sad and the fourth is solemn and agonized, but on the whole this is entertaining music. The perky little march in the first movement would not be out of place in a music hall, and the fifth, with its lumbering march and frenzied finale, could almost accompany a Warner Brothers cartoon.

Shostakovich filled the symphony some wonderful passages for the winds. Ann Choomack executed the piccolo solo in the first movement perfectly, Andrea Kaplan's flute solo in the second movement was lovely, and Andrew Cuneo did full justice to the bassoon's long, agonized star turn in the fourth movement, which magically turns into a comic introduction to the fifth. It's as though, after weeping openly, the instrument turns around and says "never mind, folks, just kidding."

There were nice moments as well from Tom Drake on trumpet, Scott Andrews and Benjamin Adler on clarinets, and Concertmaster David Halen. Roger Kaza and the horns were also in fine form.

On the podium, Mr. Hrusa appeared to always be fully in command of this symphony's mercurial moods, which range from solemn to silly over relatively short time spans. It was an expertly structured and perfectly paced performance, bringing Friday night's concert to an entertaining conclusion.

Next at Powell Hall: Gemma New conducts the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in a program of new music by students of the Missouri University composition program on Wednesday, April 3, at 8 pm. She will also conduct the orchestra along with soloists Mark Sparks, flute, and Allegra Lilly, harp, on Friday at 10:30 am, Saturday at 8 pm, and Sunday at 3 pm, April 5-7. The program consists of music by Benedetto Colagiovanni, Libby Roberts, and Mikkel Christensen. The concert takes place at Powell Symphony Hall, 718 North Grand in Grand Center.

Concert Review: 'Music You Know' and maybe some you don't

David Robertson

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Who: The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Robertson
What: Music You Know
Where: Powell Symphony Hall, St. Louis
When: March 13, 2015

[Find out more about the music with the SLSO program notes and my preview article.]

The schedule at Powell Hall was packed this weekend, with David Robertson and the St. Louis Symphony playing a Whitaker Foundation "Music You Know" concert on Friday and a pair of regular subscription concerts on Saturday and Sunday.

Friday's "Music You Know" event was the second in this series of classical "greatest hits" concerts. The first one last November, while entertaining, had a few issues: too many long stage resets, too much commentary from David Robertson (engaging and enlightening though it was), and not enough precision in the orchestral playing. This time around, none of that was the case. There were fewer stage resets, Mr. Robertson's remarks from the podium were both entertaining and concise, and the orchestra sounded great.

The programming was also a bit more adventurous this time. The bulk of it was, as expected, drawn from the classical Top 40: Brahms' "Hungarian Dance No. 5," Rosas' waltz "Sobre las Olas" ("Over the Waves"; trust me, you know the tune), Borodin's "Polovtsian Dances," and Alfvén's "Swedish Rhapsody No. 1." They all got the kind of intelligent and nuanced readings that I have come to expect form Mr. Robertson and the orchestra. I've heard all of these old chestnuts more times than I can count, but Mr. Robertson still managed to put his own personal spin on each one.

There were also works which, while every bit as immediately appealing, are not necessarily as familiar. That shorter list included two radically different pieces for violin and orchestra inspired by Hungarian folk music: Ravel's flashy "Gypsy music" pastiche "Tzigane" and Bartók's less glitzy but sill technically challenging "Rhapsody No. 1." The soloists for both came from the SLSO violin section: Assistant Principal second violin Eva Kozma for the Ravel and Second Associate Concertmaster Emeritus Silvian Iticovici for the Bartók. Both played well, although I thought Ms. Kozma had the fuller sound.

Larry Kaptain played the cimbalom (hammered dulcimer) in the Bartók beautifully and the instrument itself was quite handsome.

Friday's concert concluded with an electrifying performance of the "Four Dances from Estancia" by Alberto Ginastera. This suite drawn from the 1941 ballet the Argentine composer wrote on a commission from American dance impresario Lincoln Kirstein has only recently started to gain attention from music lovers here in the USA—somewhat surprising, since it's seriously exciting stuff. The expanded percussion section did themselves proud.

The "Music You Know" concerts are clearly intended to attract a wider audience to Powell Hall. Many of the audience members Friday night were dressed more casually than is usually the case, drinks were allowed in the auditorium, and the overall vibe was more informal. I hope that approach works. If the concerts continue at this high level, the orchestra will certainly be putting its best foot forward.

After the regular subscription concerts on March 14 and 15, the SLSO is off to Carnegie Hall in New York for an appearance on Friday, March 20th. They're back for a showing of "The Godfather" with the music performed live March 27-29, and the regular season resumes with a program of Mozart and Shostakovich April 10 and 11 conducted by Hannu Lintu. For more information: stlsymphony.org.

Symphony Preview: Dancing the night away with music you know Friday, March 13, 2015

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This weekend local classical fans get a double header with two different St. Louis Symphony concerts: a Whitaker Foundation "Music That You Know" program on Friday, March 13, and music of Tchaikovsky, Debussy, and James MacMillan on Saturday and Sunday, March 14 and 15. David Robertson is at the podium for both.

The Friday program is "Folk Dances: Brahms and Bartók," and it features dance-inspired works with roots in the folk traditions of a half-dozen different countries. This is immensely appealing stuff that doesn't require a lot of advance preparation, so I'm going to limit myself to a few bits of background on each piece to supplement the Fun Facts SLSO blogger Eddie Silva provides in his program notes.

Johannes Brahms
en.wikipedia.org

Brahms: Hungarian Dance No. 5 in G minor (1873) – Part of a set of 21 dances that Brahms wrote originally for piano four hands and then later orchestrated, this particular dance has become so popular that it's almost a cliché. It has, as a result, been the butt of a lot of musical jokes, such as Allan Sherman's "Hungarian Goulash No. 5" and the "Rhapsody From Hunger(y)" by Spike Jones (where it gets mashed up with Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2").

Brahms thought he was basing this dance on a Hungarian folk tune (as he did for all but three of the other dances) but, in fact, he was using a czardas by Hungarian composer and conductor Béla Kéler. Ah, those carefree days before copyright law!

Juventino Rosas: Sobre las olas (Over the Waves) (1891) – A true "one hit wonder," Mexican composer Juventino Rosas was an Otomi Indian who became a prominent purveyor of salon music in Mexico City. He died at the age of 26 from a fever contracted while touring in Cuba. In his liner notes for a 1981 recording of this piece, the late music critic Andrew Lamb tells us that Rosas dedicated the waltz to a young lady whom he wooed in vain. Fitted up with lyrics by Paul Francis Webster, the main theme became the song "The Loveliest night of the Year". Mario Lanza introduced it in the 1950 film "The Great Caruso."

Ravel: Tzigane (1924) – The title is French for "gypsy," and while this fiercely difficult piece for violin and orchestra doesn't use any actual Hungarian folk tunes, it certainly conjures up the feel of that kind of music. The slow, smoldering romanticism of the opening eventually gives way to a wildly energetic finale that will test the skill of the best violinists.

Hugo Alfvén: Midsommarvaka (Midsummer Vigil), Swedish Rhapsody No. 1, op. 19 (1903) – This is the first of a set of three "Swedish Rhapsodies" from a composer who, while well known in his native land, is rarely heard elsewhere. In his notes for a 1994 recording of the complete rhapsodies, Swedish composer Lennart Hedwall notes that the first rhapsody is an "impression of one of the most important national feasts in Sweden, when the people celebrate the longest day and the brightest night of the year with almost ritual intensity." In 1957 the great Chet Atkins had a major hit with his solo guitar arrangement of the first theme.

Borodin: Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor (1869-70, 1874-87) – Left unfinished at the time of the composer's death in 1887, "Prince Igor" was eventually completed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Glazunov. Fortunately, you don't need to know anything about the opera's complex plot to appreciate these colorful dances. Three of the melodies were used by the songwriting team of Wright and Forrest for their 1953 musical "Kismet," where they became "He's in Love," "Not Since Nineveh," and "Stranger in Paradise."

Bartók: Rhapsody No. 1 for Violin and Orchestra (1928-29) – And now for something completely different: Hungarian music based on Hungarian folk tunes collected by a Hungarian composer. Bartók's two rhapsodies were originally written for violin and piano and then later orchestrated. This first one packs over a half-dozen different folk tunes into its roughly eleven minute run time. Like Ravel's "Tzigane," it demands real virtuosity.

Alberto Ginastera
en.wikipedia.org

Alberto Ginastera: Four Dances from Estancia, op. 8a (1941) – In 1941 American dance impresario Lincoln Kirstein commissioned Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera to write "Estancia" ("ranch" in Argentine Spanish), a ballet based on the music and dances of Argentine cowboys, for his company. In April of 1942, celebrated choreographer Agnes de Mille called Aaron Copland and asked him to score a cowboy ballet for her company. Kirsten's company folded in 1942 and the ballet wasn't performed until 1952. De Mille's company did not fold and Copland's "Rodeo" was a huge and immediate hit.

Both "Estancia" and "Rodeo" are now better known for four-movement suites excerpted from their scores. Copland's suite is part of the standard repertoire here in the USA, but Ginastera's didn't get much traction with American audiences until its 2008 recording by Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela under Gustavo Dudamel began getting airplay on classical stations.

Which is a bit surprising, as it's seriously exciting stuff. If you can sit through all twelve minutes of it—especially the exuberant "Malambo" final movement—without getting energized then (to quote a Louis Jordan lyric), "Jack, you're dead."

The essentials: David Robertson conducts the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra with violin soloists Eva Kozma and Silvian Iticovici in a Whitaker Foundation Music That You Know concert on Friday at 8 p.m., March 13. The concerts take place at Powell Symphony Hall, 718 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information: stlsymphony.org.

Isn't it Romantic?

Andrés Orozco-Estrada
Photo: © Werner Kmetitsch

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Who: The St. Louis Symphony conducted by Andrés Orozco-Estrada with pianist Louis Lortie
What: Music of von Weber, Beethoven, and Bartók
When: Friday through Sunday, January 17-19, 2014
Where: Powell Symphony Hall

This weekend the second of the symphony’s four "Beethoven Festival" concerts brings us music of Beethoven, a younger contemporary of Beethoven, and a 20th century composer who acknowledged Beethoven as a major influence—all done up by guest conductor Andrés Orozco-Estrada in that dramatic, late Romantic Austro-German style I associate with the recordings of Bruno Walter and Otto Klemperer that were so much a part of my youth.

The concerts open with the overture to the 1823 opera "Euryanthe" by that younger contemporary of Beethoven, Carl Maria von Weber. Unlike Weber's "Der Freischütz," "Euryanthe" has never found a place in the active repertoire, probably because (as Paul Schiavo writes in his program notes) the libretto by German journalist, poet, and playwright Helmina von Chézy (once described by Mahler as a "poetess with a full heart and an empty head") "was an incompetent botch." Still, the overture is a real crowd pleaser, with engaging themes, plenty of dramatic contrast, and a rousing finale.

Here, as in the rest of the program, Mr. Orozco-Estrada made the most of those contrasts—part of that aforementioned echt Romantic approach. The "ghost" theme was (you should pardon the expression) haunting and the fugato run-up to the finale was nicely articulated. Mr. Orozco-Estrada was an exuberant and very physically demonstrative figure on the podium, with big but crisp gestures suggesting a good balance of emotional involvement and intellectual control.

This week's Beethoven is the "Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major," op. 73 (a.k.a. the "Emperor"), a work which bristles with nobility and grace despite being written under the cloud of war and occupation. When Beethoven was writing the concerto in Vienna in 1809, the city was under heavy siege by Napoleon. "[L]ife around me", he wrote, "is wild and disturbing, nothing but drums, cannons, soldiers, misery of every sort." You can even hear a bit of that bombardment, I think, in the heavy piano chords that show up early in the development section of the first movement just as you can hear a kind of impassioned yearning for peace in the wistful second. It's a work of inescapable emotional power.

Louis Lortie

Soloist Louis Lortie channeled all that power beautifully. This was a very visceral performance; Mr. Lortie truly threw himself into the music, with every emotion etched on his face and visible in his body language. Like Mr. Orozco-Estrada, Mr. Lortie gave us a nearly perfect combination of head and heart. Between them, we got a powerfully noble first movement, a transcendent second and, after that wonderfully suspenseful transition, a completely engaging finale.

This sort of big, colorful, high-wattage reading might not work for some of the earlier Beethoven concerti, but for the Fifth I think it's very valid. The piano part, in particular, seems to cry out for the fuller tone and wider range of the modern, metal frame concert grand—a type of piano that wouldn't be perfected until shortly before the composer's death. Mr. Lortie's muscular approach couldn't have been a better fit.

The Hungarian composer Béla Bartók was a great admirer of Beethoven, so it seems only right that this weekend's concerts should conclude with what may be Bartók's most famous work, the 1943 "Concerto for Orchestra." Written, like the "Emperor" concerto, at a time of great personal travail, the "Concerto" is nevertheless a dramatic, appealing, and sometimes even humorous work. Indeed, as Paul Schiavo points out in his program notes, Bartók, although impoverished and suffering from leukemia, declared that the commission to compose this work was "the wonder drug I needed to bring about my own cure."

And it really is a wonder. The "Concerto" provides an opportunity for the members of the symphony to show off, either individually or in small groups—and on Friday morning they did it beautifully. If I were to list everyone who managed to "shine with a virtue resplendent" this morning, I'd just be listing all the principal and assistant principal players in each section, which might make for tedious reading. So I'll merely note that, once again, the St. Louis Symphony lived up to its reputation as an ensemble of virtuosi. Mr. Orozco-Estrada gave all the featured musicians a chance to stand and receive their applause at the end, which they fully earned.

For his part, Mr. Orozco-Estrada gave Bartók the widescreen, Technicolor treatment the "Concerto" deserves. The little dance of the second movement "Giuoco delle coppie" ("The Game of Pairs," featuring a series a duets) was appropriately jaunty; the interjection, in the third movement "Intermezzo interotto" ("Interrupted Intermezzo"), of a theme from the Shostakovich Seventh Symphony (which Bartók heard in a live broadcast while composing the "Concerto") was thoroughly cheeky; and the finale was charged with wild energy. Lively and completely captivating stuff it was, and a welcome antidote to a chilly and blustery winter morning.

Next at Powel Hall: David Robertson continues the "Beethoven Festival" with the "Symphony No. 3" (the "Eroica") along "Testament" and a "Viola Concerto" by contemporary composer/violist Brett Dean. Mr. Dean will be the soloist for his concerto. The concerts are Friday and Saturday, January 24 and 25, at 8 PM. For more information: stlsymphony.org.

For more information on the music, check out the symphony program notes and my symphony preview article.