Tag: Alan Gilbert

Brahms|Thorvaldsdottir|Salonen @ NY Phil

Above: Alan Gilbert, in a Michael J Lutch photo

Author: Scoresby

Tuesday May 23rd 2017 – Now in the final weeks of his tenure as music director, Alan Gilbert led the New York Philharmonic at David Geffen Hall in the last of four concerts of a diverse program. Guest soloists included the respected violinist Leonidas Kavakos, soprano Anu Komsi, and soprano Piia Komsi (both sopranos in their NY Philharmonic Subscription debuts). It also happened to be a night devoted to the retiring members of the NY Philharmonic and such there was a ceremony right after intermission.

The program started out with the classic Brahms’s Concerto in D major for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 77. I have heard Mr. Kavakos (above) a few times before and have always enjoyed his performances. This Brahms was taken at a slow pace in the first movement. Mr. Kavakos seemed to use a style of playing with very light bow pressure and many staccato notes, which emphasized the more modernist elements of the work (particularly in the cadenza). While most players make this into a flashy piece, both the orchestra and Mr. Kavakos seemed to be tempered, bordering on torpid. They did bring transparency and structure, emphasizing each phrase.

Opening with a sensual organ-like chorale, the second movement seemed more effective at this tempo. It allowed the orchestra to breathe through some of the more beautiful tutti sections and Mr. Kavakos time to care for each line. The finale was Mr. Kavakos at his best, finally managing to fully synchronize with the orchestra and lunging through difficult technical demands.

After the intermission was the annual New York Philharmonic ceremony honoring both the retiring and retired musicians. This is a time-honored tradition in which retiring musicians give a speech – it is also a nice time for former musicians to come back to the orchestra.

As the violist and Chairperson of the Musician’s Orchestra Committee Dawn Hannay (above) pointed out in her memorable speech, the musicians and history of an organization are vital in creating a particular sound. “Without the musicians, the conductor is just waiving their arms around.”

Above: Anna Thorvaldsdottir; photo by Kristinn Ingvarsson

The second piece on the program was the New York premiere of Aeriality by the young Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir. While this was my first time hearing any of her work live, I have been relishing two recent discs of her music for the past few years – one released by Deutsche Grammophon and the other recorded by International Contemporary Ensemble. It was a pleasure to hear this rich music live, which is a completely different experience than listening to an album. As with many of Ms. Thorvaldsdottir’s pieces, the sound is huge and immersive.

In some ways, one might consider this piece as much an ambient soundscape as it is a structured musical piece. The percussion seems the only thing grounding about the music; it otherwise shifts through a variety of textures and colors – almost like moving through space. It is a evokes strong visuals of a primordial landscape in my mind. The clusters, density, and waves of sound all increase until a climactic moment when the music turns into light, feathery texturing. It really felt like the orchestra arrived somewhere it fell silent. The performers drew a big sound and played well. Mr. Gilbert led a slower account that accentuated the many textures, but also felt a little less structured.

The program closed with the New York premiere of a work by the esteemed composer and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen. The piece was an older one from his output entitled Wing on Wing, inspired by the completion of Frank Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall. It includes two sopranos who move to different parts of the hall, percussionists who also play from different parts of the hall, the electronic sounds of a fish, and the voice of Frank Gehry himself.

The sopranos Anna and Pii Komsi did an excellent job through difficult descending and ascending passages that evoked the sounds of a siren. While the orchestra played rivetingly throughout the work, the electronics sounded a little kitschy. The piece has classic Salonen sound of colorful open sounding chords with interesting textures from a variety of instruments. It evoked both Ligeti’s Atmosphères and Debussy’s Jeux, melded with Salonen’s creative rhythms.

The moment that grabbed the most was the final purely orchestral section, in which the orchestra bursts into a frenetic dance anchored by the percussion. It was lovely to hear the New York Philharmonic present important contemporary composers and a nice reminder of the importance of the musicians in the orchestra.

~ Scoresby

May 25, 2017
Celebrating Alan Gilbert’s 50th Birthday

Thursday February 23rd, 2017 – An array of stars from the classical music firmament were on hand to celebrate the 50th birthday of The New York Philharmonic‘s Music Director Alan Gilbert. Click on the above photo to enlarge.

“Life begins at 50!”…at least it did for me: the life I’d always hoped to live, here in New York City with my beloved, with everything I enjoy – music, dance, art, food, a nearby park – at my fingertips, and good friends to share things with. Alan Gilbert’s tenure as Music Director coincides with my own embrace of The Philharmonic. I would go once in a while during the Mehta-Boulez-Masur-Maazel years, but in recent seasons I have rarely missed a program; I have become an admirer of several of the orchestra’s musicians, and of Alan’s leadership. He’ll soon be embarking on a new phase of his career, and so it was truly pleasing to be there tonight, joining with the stellar party guests onstage to salute the Maestro.

The first half of the evening was devoted to music of the Three Bs: Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. After welcoming speeches, Alan Gilbert strode out to a warm greeting from the packed house. Paolo Bordignon was at the harpsichord as Pamela Frank and Frank Huang took up the opening Vivace of Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, BWV 1043, playing with festive vitality. Pamela Frank was then joined by Joshua Bell for the Largo ma non tanto, and how beautifully their timbres blended: deeply satisfying music-making. I’d hoped Alan Gilbert might play tonight, but the third movement of the Bach brought forth Lisa Batiashvili and Mr. Huang in the vivacious Allegro.

I think this was the first time I have heard this piece outside of its ballet setting: Balanchine’s masterpiece CONCERTO BAROCCO is frequently given across the Plaza. Throughout tonight’s concert rendering, the choreography danced in my head.

Phenomenal back-to-back performances by two of the world’s great pianists followed: Emanuel Ax cast a magic spell over the music of Brahms: the Andante from the 2nd piano concerto. How gently Mr. Ax caressed this music, and how poignant was the sound of Carter Brey’s cello in his long solo passage. The cello returns near the end of the movement as Mr. Ax plays a series of delicate trills.

Yefim Bronfman then took command of the Steinway in a thrillingly virtuosic Allegro con brio from Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3. With some wonderful interjections from the Philharmonic’s wind soloists along the way, the pianist brought both passion and nuance to his playing. As his spectacular rendering of the cadenza drew to its close on a series of gossamer trills, the orchestra re-entered creating an exquisite sense of quietude.

Joshua Bell’s fiery playing and unbridled physicality evoked the audience’s rousing ovation for his performance of the Allegro energico from Max Bruch’s first violin concerto. Moments later, a very different aspect of Mr. Bell’s artistry was gorgeously evidenced as he joined Renée Fleming for Richard Strauss’s “Morgen!“; the warmth of the soprano’s voice and the silken serenity of Mr. Bell’s phrasing created a tranquil atmosphere, like basking in sunlight on some distant seashore.

Ms. Fleming then gave one of her trademark arias, “Marietta’s Lied” from Erich Korngold’s DIE TOTE STADT; the song’s romance and mystery were conveyed by the soprano in the high-rising arcs of the vocal line over a dreamlike orchestration that features harp, piano, and celesta. The music becomes passionate; then the singer speaks a couple of lines, as she tries to recall the words of the second verse. Once again the haunting melody is sung, followed by an evocative postlude. Intoxicating moments.

Lisa Batiashvili offered “Goin’ Home“, the ‘spiritual’ that was drawn from the principal theme of the Largo of Antonin Dvořák’s New World symphony, arranged by Fritz Kreisler, and adapted by T. Batiashvili. This was played with rich emotion and lovely tone by the comely Ms. Batiashvili; the only problem is that the song is quite brief, leaving us craving more Batiashvili.

Gershwin’s An American in Paris, a favorite work of Alan Gilbert’s, was the closing work of the evening; not my cup of tea, but of course superbly played.

Frock watch: being a party night, the women of the Philharmonic did not all wear regulation black; Cynthia Phelps looked radiant in a “gamorous” slit-skirt emerald green number. Pamela Frank wore a black gown shot with silver, and be-jeweled shoes which would have made Cinderella envious. Lisa Batiashvili, ever the picture of elegance, wore a sleek, satiny gun-metal creation with a hint of Grecian style. And Renée Fleming looked every inch the diva in vermilion with a long golden shawl.

Renée led us in singing ‘Happy Birthday, Dear Alan’ with the standing audience saluting the conductor and everyone singing full-voice. Maestro Gilbert basked in the embraces of the great musicians who had gathered to honor him; then they all seemed to be heading off together to continue the party into the wee hours as Alan waved goodbye to the crowd.

February 23, 2017
Sibelius & Mahler @ The NY Philharmonic

Above: baritone Thomas Hampson

Friday April 22nd, 2016 matinee – A matinee performance by The New York Philharmonic pairing the Sibelius seventh symphony with Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde. Alan Gilbert was on the podium, with soloists Stefan Vinke and Thomas Hampson singing the solo parts in the Mahler.

The two works made an ideal pairing; the Sibelius 7th (first performed in 1925 under the title Fantasia Sinfonica) lasts only about 20 minutes and is written as a single-movement. From its opening rising scale which blooms into regal theme, the symphony compensates for its relative brevity with music of almost cinematic breadth. Abundant in melody, the piece has an Autumnal quality; though Sibelius would live until 1957, he wrote very little music after 1926. This last symphony is both serene and passionate; it leaves us wondering ‘what might have been’ if he had continued writing.

The Sibelius was played with savourable richness by the Philharmonic artists today, and Maestro Alan Gilbert was very much in his element here; following the interval, players and conductor were joined by the two vocal soloists and a thrilling performance of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde commenced.

Still recovering from the sorrow of his daughter’s death, Mahler learned in 1907 that he was suffering from a heart condition that would, within four years, prove fatal. In The Song of the Earth, the composer’s awareness of the possibility of an approaching end prompted the composition of a great hymn to Nature and to the sheer ecstasy of living. Drawn from The Chinese Flute, a collection of ancient Chinese poems translated by Hans Bethge, the six ‘songs of the Earth’ speak of drunken defiance of impending death, of the solitary life, of the transience of youth and beauty, and of a friendship which endures beyond parting and into eternity.

The tenor is allotted the more extroverted songs; the first, third, and fifth. Stefan Vinke’s formidable power and stamina proved equal to the fierce demands Mahler’s vocal writing places on the singer: high in tessitura and including exposed, sustained notes in the topmost range, the tenor’s muscular singing was just what’s needed. An occasional trace of pitchiness didn’t detract from Mr. Vinke’s generous singing. And I must note the lovely violin theme from Frank Huang in the fifth song, “The Drunkard in Spring“.

(Note: it’s just been announced that Stefan Vinke will be replacing Johan Botha when James Levine and The Met Orchestra perform excerpts from Wagner’s RING Cycle at Carnegie Hall on May 26th. Christine Goerke is the soprano soloist.)

Both mezzo-sopranos and baritones have performed the ‘other’ solo role in Das Lied von der Erde – the formidable Margarete Matzenauer sang it at the NY Philharmonic premiere in 1929. Today, it was baritone Thomas Hampson whose strikingly expressive singing moved me and my companion to a tearful state as the work came to an end.

I have admired Thomas Hampson since his Met Auditions win in 1981; among his many Met roles that have particularly impressed me have been: Count Almaviva, Billy Budd, Posa in DON CARLO, Werther, Eugene Onegin, Wolfram in TANNHAUSER, Amfortas, Iago, and – most surprisingly and most recently – Wozzeck. He walked onstage today – tall, handsome, and elegant in a tux – with an amiable self-assurance that made me think we were in for something special; Hampson delivered an intensely satisfying performance.

Liang Wang’s oboe solo at the start of “The Solitary One in Autumn” signaled a turn of mood from the boisterous drinking song with which Mr. Vinke had launched the cycle. As Mr. Hampson began to sing of his loneliness and weariness of spirit, his marvelous gift for poetic expression as well as the inherent beauty of his vocal timbre drew me into the music; the external world faded, and the music became the reality.

Midway thru the fourth song, “Of Beauty“, a big dance-like theme erupts, and the baritone seemed ready to dance himself. His singing was characterful and, as the music simmers down, he did some lovely heady effects as well an plunging into basso territory briefly.

It was in the final song, “Farewell”, that Mr. Hampson’s performance put me over the edge. Liang Wang’s oboe and Robert Langevin’s flute establish a wistful mood. The baritone’s thoughtful and sustained singing is beautifully enmeshed in some wonderful playing from the winds; oboe and harp unite; horn, cello, bassoon, and bass clarinet add poignant colours to the canvas. “All longing has become a dream,” sings the poet.

In a spine-tingling moment, Mr. Hampson’s tone adopts a ‘dead’ emptiness, matched by plaintive flute. “I wanted to bid my friend a last farewell!” – how many of us have sadly been deprived of just such an opportunity! Mandolin and celeste are heard, as if from out of a dream of past happiness. “Where are you going, and why must it be?” asks the forlorn friend as the parting draws nigh, and they share the stirrup cup. The song ends with an affirmation of faith in life’s renewal, but even here there’s an illusive feeling. Nature holds sway with the “…luminous blue of distant space…everywhere, forever… forever and ever….”

Alan Gilbert’s baton was suspended in air as the music faded to silence. An ovation of particular warmth ensued, with the maestro, the singers, and the musicians basking in the joy of having shared in a magnificent collaboration.

April 21, 2016
NY Philharmonic Taps Jaap van Zweden

The New York Philharmonic have just announced that Jaap van Zweden (above) will succeed Alan Gilbert as the orchestra’s music director. van Zweden’s 5-year contract commences with the 2018-2019 season; he will be music director designate for the 2017-2018 season.

Maestro van Zweden was my personal choice for the position. The NY Philharmonic concerts that I have attended in recent seasons when he was on the podium have been particularly gratifying; and the musicians seem to respond to him both on an artistic and a human level.

Here’s my article about a wonderful NY Philharmonic concert van Zweden led earlier this season; at the end of it, I expressed my thoughts about him taking over the music director’s post. I am really happy that it’s come to pass, and I look forward to many more concerts under his baton.

January 26, 2016
Philharmonic Finale: JOAN OF ARC

Above: Joan of Arc, a late-19th century painting by Harold H. Piffard

Saturday June 13th, 2015 – Jeanne d‘Arc au bûcher (Joan of Arc at the Stake), an oratorio by Arthur Honegger, was the final offering of the New York Philharmonic’s 2014-2015 season. Leave it to Alan Gilbert to end an exciting season with a big bang: Honegger’s epic work unfolded in a staged version which captured both the gravitas and the insouciant sarcasm of the score.

Jeanne d‘Arc au bûcher was originally commissioned by Ida Rubinstein, who had enflamed Paris when she appeared with Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in the title role of Cléopâtre in 1909, and Zobéide in Scheherazade in 1910. Rubinstein premiered Jeanne d’Arc with her own Company at Basel in 1938; she bade farewell to the stage in the same work in 1939.

The New York Philharmonic last performed the oratorio in 1994 with Marthe Keller in the title role. For the current performances, the superb French actress Marion Cotillard has taken on the role of Jeanne which she has previously performed at Orléans and Barcelona, and most recently on a tour of Monaco, Toulouse and Paris in the present production by Côme de Bellescize.

Arthur Honegger’s setting of Claudel’s text centers on Joan of Arc’s last moments of life at the stake, where she sees the events of her life pass before her eyes before succumbing to a terrifyingly painful death. Her confessor, Brother Dominique, reads to her from the book of her life, starting with her trial and conviction for heresy and witchcraft in 1431 and goes back even further, beyond Charles VII’s coronation, to her awakening to the voices of the saints – Catherine and Margaret – in her country garden as a young maiden. Honegger’s theatrical setting calls for three speaking actors – as Joan, Brother Dominique, and a Narrator, respectively – as well as singing soloists and adult and children’s choruses.

The often quirky score includes parts for saxophone, piano, and the electronic ondes martenot, and the musical influences range from plain chant and Baroque to folksong and jazz. The Philharmonic musicians were at their customary high level of play, and Maestro Gilbert’s detailed handling of the score made the best possible case for this unusual work.

A runway wraps around the partially sunken orchestra, with the children’s chorus and various players coming into close range of the audience. Behind the orchestra, the adult chorus on risers loom up on either side of the grim stake, which rests on a small platform where Brother Dominique attempts to ease the horror of Joan’s impending torturous death by reminding her of her past good deeds and the notion of heavenly reward.

The mood of the piece veers sharpy from piety to farce, with the presiding dignitaries at Joan’s sham trial portrayed as a pig and a donkey. The evening’s most memorable moments came at the end, as deep red light representing the consuming flames filled not only the stage but much of the auditorium. As everything faded to black, every chorister and musicians held up a small faerie light, leaving us with a vision of the eternal stars.

Above: Marion Cotillard; her portrayal of Joan was a tour de force, her wonderful voice encompassing both the irony and the terror of her speeches. From girlish sing-song to her witty responses to her captors thru to the earthy, guttural expressions of her fear of death, and at last her final ecstasy, Cotillard gave a masterful performance, as touching to watch as to hear.

Her fellow actors – Eric Génovèse as Brother Dominique and Christian Gonon (as narrator, and in multiple smaller roles ) – were ideally cast both in terms of their voicing of the lines and their characterizations. Among the various supporting roles, two singers stood out: soprano Erin Morley, radiant-toned in the high-lying phrases of the Virgin, and tenor Thomas Blondelle who sang fearlessly and with clear projection in the taxing tessitura of Porcus, the pig-magistrate, and in other smaller roles. Everyone, in fact, sounded well in this sometimes tricky music, and both choruses – the adults and the children – made a very fine effect.

June 14, 2015
Beethoven Piano Concertos @ NY Phil III

Wednesday June 25th, 2014 – The New York Philharmonic presenting the final programme of their 2013-2014 subscription season at Avery Fisher Hall; over the past two weeks, the orchestra have offered the first four Beethven piano concertos with Alan Gilbert on the podium and Yefim Bronfman at the Steinway. Tonight Mr. Bronfman played the 5th (‘Emperor’) concerto as the concert’s finale; earlier in the evening, he was joined for the Triple Concerto by the Philharmonic’s soon-to-retire concertmaster Glenn Dicterow, and the principal cellist Carter Brey join Mr. Bronfman. This same programme will be repeated on June 26th, 27th, and 28th, the final evening marking Glenn Dicterow’s farewell performance with the Philharmonic.

The Triple Concerto (1804) opens with a traditional Allegro in which the solo voices are introduced one by one: the cello, then the violin, and finally the piano. In the Largo which follows (and is rather short), the concerto finds its heart with a melody, introduced by the cello, which displays the expressive richness that characterize the greatest passages of Beethoven’s works. Without pause, the final Rondo alla Polacca commences; again the insistently repeated phrases of the cello are prominent. This rondo features joyful themes seemingly inspired by Polish folk music, with lively shifts from major to minor.

The performance, though thoroughly enjoyable, somehow never really developed a rapport between the three solo players, mainly due to the fact that Mr. Bronfman, of necessity, had his back to his string-playing collegues. Mssers. Dicterow and Brey were able to communicate directly with one another, whilst Mr. Bronfman was left in his own (beautiful) world.

Following the intermission, Yefim Bronfman’s playing of the ‘Emperor’ concerto this evening was a superb finale to this NY Philharmonic Beethoven Concerto Festival. This majestic work was given a vibrant performance by the pianist and the artists of the Philharmonic, all wonderfully woven together by Maestro Gilbert’s baton.

By this Saturday, Mr. Bronfman will have played on thirteen evenings over a three week period: an exhausting schedule, yet the pianist’s playing seemed awesomely fresh and vital tonight, with his uncanny mastery of dymanics always giving a shimmer to the sound. For all his technical brilliance, Bronfman’s playing also has a noble, heartfelt quality that makes his playing so deeply satisfying. The waves of applause that have engulfed him at each of these concerts have been very moving to experience. And it’s to our good fortune that he will be back at Avery Fisher Hall in late October 2014 playing the Bartok 3rd with Alan Gilbert on the podium. The dates are already on my calendar.

June 25, 2014