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.

The People, yes.

Peter Henderson

Who: Members of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
What: The Pulitzer Contemporary Music Festival
When: June 14, 2012
Where: The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts

If you had any doubts that the St. Louis Symphony was an orchestra of virtuosi, the opening concert of the Pulitzer Contemporary Music Festival at the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts Thursday night would surely have dispelled them. Orchestra members Eva Kozma (violin), Morris Jacob (viola), and Bjorn Ranheim (cello and "Voice of God"), along with violinist Peter Otto (a former orchestra member now living in Cleveland), gave us an utterly compelling performance of George Crumb's Black Angels: Thirteen Images from the Dark Land (the "Pavana Lachrymae" section was especially moving), followed by a dazzling reading by pianist Peter Henderson of Frederic Rzewski's The People United Will Never Be Defeated!. Yes, the piece is over-written and bit self-indulgent at times, but dang, what a performance!

The two works have more in common than just the remarkable demands they make on performers. They were written within just a few years of each other (Black Angels in 1971, The People in 1975) and both have extra-musical political references—Crumb’s to the Vietnam War and Rzewski’s to the Chilean Resistance that adopted the original Sergio Ortega tune as their anthem. As David Robertson pointed out in his pre-concert remarks, both also transcend and transform those connotations.

Black Angels is the more radical and probably the more famous of the two. Written for amplified string quartet, the work requires the players not only to use their instruments in unusual ways (at one point he has the violins and viola literally turn their instruments upside down to produce the unearthly sound of the "Pavana Lachrymae") but to play other instruments as well, including hand-held percussion and glasses filled with water in the manner of the 18th-century glass harmonica. He also has them whistle, whisper, shout, and chant.

All that requires musicians who are also comfortable with the overt theatricality of Crumb’s work, which this quartet clearly was. I think it must be difficult to do some of the unusual things Crumb requires (such as counting loudly to five in various languages) and still stay focused on the music, but they did it. This was an entertaining and moving performance of a challenging piece.

The People United Will Never Be Defeated! is challenging stuff as well, and not just for the soloist, who is called upon to whistle and shout as well as play nearly an hour of music that demands every ounce of technique a pianist can muster. It’s a tough nut for the audience, as well, since Rzewski’s variations are often so ingenious that the tune disappears completely, making it easy to lose your way if you’re not intimately familiar with the piece. There’s also, to my ears, not quite enough variety in some of the variations to avoid a feeling that the work is becoming repetitious.

Still, it’s fun stuff on the whole, and it’s an interesting challenge to spot the various composers to whom Rzewski pays homage. As Mr. Robertson pointed out, The People is a compendium of just about every piano technique developed during the 20th century, making it a kind of amped-up version of the “Piano Puzzler” with which Bruce Adolph has been regaling us for the past decade on PRI’s Performance Today. I’m pretty sure I heard Ravel, Ives, Gershwin, Prokofiev, and (yes) Crumb in there somewhere.

The soloist for the Rzewski, Peter Henderson, is the ensemble keyboardist for the Symphony. His performance was stunning—technically proficient and musically aware. I was especially impressed by his work in the optional improvisation that precedes the final restatement of the theme. It was fiery, impassioned, and (honestly) more inventive than some of the composer’s variations.

The Pulitzer Contemporary Music Festival concluded Sunday, June 17th. The Symphony’s post-season activity is not over yet, though. Their Beatles tribute, Classical Mystery Tour, takes place on June 22nd. You may call 314-534-1700 for ticket information or visit stlsymphony.org.