The concert I attended a couple of weeks ago spanned over a century of musical history, neatly bracketing the first beginnings and the final outpourings of the Romantic movement in music.
(Sorry for being so late posting this -- sometimes too many things happen at once!)
The bulk of the concert was given over to a performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 55 -- the famous Eroica. I know that I'm far from being the first writer to identify this monumental work as the first great Romantic symphony. In every way, this astounding music burst the bounds of traditional form, structure, and style wide open -- from the immense time scale of this symphony to its almost shocking harmonic stresses, from the innovation of a funeral march to the hammer-stroke energy of a scherzo that leaves the classical minuet in the dust.
Time and again, in listening closely to this work, I hear so many precursors of the great music of composers whose music spreads across the remainder of the nineteenth century and into the first decades of the twentieth. At this time, perhaps the greatest danger is that familiarity will cause us to treat the Eroica a little too casually, too matter-of-factly, that we will lose touch with its power to rouse our emotional response. This is why a live performance of this symphony matters so much. It definitely belongs to that select company of works which are diminished in power and stature when heard in the home from a recording.
I don't know if the Eroica is in fact less often performed than other Beethoven symphonies, or if it's just my bad luck that this was only the second time I had ever heard it played live.
At any rate, that's where I want to begin this review -- at the end, with the Beethoven. Guest conductor Kerem Hasan, making his Toronto Symphony Orchestra debut, delivered what was very much a young musician's performance of this symphony -- clean, brisk, and bright as a new penny.
These qualities served well in the monumental first movement, where the upbeat tempo -- well within an allowable range -- yet permitted Hasan to take the exposition repeat without over-tiring either musicians or audience. Variations from the basic tempo were for the most part not extreme, and were held down to just a few key structural points in the movement. More to the point was the tutta forza with which the orchestra punched out the screaming discords at the heart of the movement without abandoning the crisp staccato which allowed each chord to register as a separate blow on the ears.
The slow movement was, if not positively out of court, at least a bit problematic in the choice of an upper-end speed for the main funeral march. This interpretation sailed close to losing touch with that fundamental solemnity which this music demands. On the other hand, the legato of the contrasting second theme positively soared in a pure arc of luscious sound. The sombre fugato was played with even greater gravitas than the main theme. And Hasan did slow down at the end, when the theme breaks apart into hesitant fragments -- and even more for the two great final chords.
The lightness of touch in the scherzo contrasted beautifully with the dark end of the march, and the orchestra again sparkled with its crisply-articulated phrasing. The trio took on an appropriately rustic air, harking back to the folk-dance which lies at the heart of this music.
In the finale, Hasan found nicely-contrasted colours in the different variations, while keeping the structure rolling steadily forward. All built up steadily in power towards the ebullient coda, which capped the whole symphony with a fine feeling of celebratory energy. This is another case where it would be fascinating to hear the same conductor tackle the same work again in 10 years or so, to see how his interpretation changes and matures with time and greater experience of the music.
Now, back to the beginning. The concert began with an established audience favourite, the Prélude a l'après-midi d'un faune by Claude Debussy. From the magical opening flute solo, the critical woodwind playing throughout this work combined smooth legato with the broadest palette of dynamics, as required. Maestro Hasan led the orchestra in a performance of great subtlety, an essential quality in this poetic score. This was Debussy playing of some distinction.
I wish I could say the same for the Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 35, by Karol Szymanowski. This work reminds me of Donald Tovey's famous description of a Liszt tone poem as being composed of introductions to introductions to introductions. The single-movement structure remains elusive for me, even after several hearings. It's not a favourite work of mine.
But this was the first time I heard it performed live, and this is when I discovered the peril of all perils in this piece: the violin soloist, the eminent Christian Tetzlaff, was basically inaudible for a good part of the work. This of course is partly the composer's fault. Szymanowski worked with a late-romantic orchestra which would suit a Mahler symphony admirably, but when the volume of sound from such an ensemble reaches even a mezzo-forte the violin soloist is apt to be swamped.
The times when I could hear Tetzlaff's playing truly convinced me that he had the measure of the score. On the whole, I'd hope that the conductor could do a little more to redress the balance in at least some of those louder passages. But here we run up against the fact that Karem Hasan was a late substitute for the programmed conductor, and may well not have had time to study the work adequately. It's definitely not in the mainstream repertoire in the same way as the Debussy and Beethoven compositions.
Overall, it was a creditable run at a challenging and not terribly rewarding work. But given a choice among twentieth-century violin concertos, I would opt any day for Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1, with the Barber concerto as runner-up.
At any rate, that's where I want to begin this review -- at the end, with the Beethoven. Guest conductor Kerem Hasan, making his Toronto Symphony Orchestra debut, delivered what was very much a young musician's performance of this symphony -- clean, brisk, and bright as a new penny.
These qualities served well in the monumental first movement, where the upbeat tempo -- well within an allowable range -- yet permitted Hasan to take the exposition repeat without over-tiring either musicians or audience. Variations from the basic tempo were for the most part not extreme, and were held down to just a few key structural points in the movement. More to the point was the tutta forza with which the orchestra punched out the screaming discords at the heart of the movement without abandoning the crisp staccato which allowed each chord to register as a separate blow on the ears.
The slow movement was, if not positively out of court, at least a bit problematic in the choice of an upper-end speed for the main funeral march. This interpretation sailed close to losing touch with that fundamental solemnity which this music demands. On the other hand, the legato of the contrasting second theme positively soared in a pure arc of luscious sound. The sombre fugato was played with even greater gravitas than the main theme. And Hasan did slow down at the end, when the theme breaks apart into hesitant fragments -- and even more for the two great final chords.
The lightness of touch in the scherzo contrasted beautifully with the dark end of the march, and the orchestra again sparkled with its crisply-articulated phrasing. The trio took on an appropriately rustic air, harking back to the folk-dance which lies at the heart of this music.
In the finale, Hasan found nicely-contrasted colours in the different variations, while keeping the structure rolling steadily forward. All built up steadily in power towards the ebullient coda, which capped the whole symphony with a fine feeling of celebratory energy. This is another case where it would be fascinating to hear the same conductor tackle the same work again in 10 years or so, to see how his interpretation changes and matures with time and greater experience of the music.
Now, back to the beginning. The concert began with an established audience favourite, the Prélude a l'après-midi d'un faune by Claude Debussy. From the magical opening flute solo, the critical woodwind playing throughout this work combined smooth legato with the broadest palette of dynamics, as required. Maestro Hasan led the orchestra in a performance of great subtlety, an essential quality in this poetic score. This was Debussy playing of some distinction.
I wish I could say the same for the Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 35, by Karol Szymanowski. This work reminds me of Donald Tovey's famous description of a Liszt tone poem as being composed of introductions to introductions to introductions. The single-movement structure remains elusive for me, even after several hearings. It's not a favourite work of mine.
But this was the first time I heard it performed live, and this is when I discovered the peril of all perils in this piece: the violin soloist, the eminent Christian Tetzlaff, was basically inaudible for a good part of the work. This of course is partly the composer's fault. Szymanowski worked with a late-romantic orchestra which would suit a Mahler symphony admirably, but when the volume of sound from such an ensemble reaches even a mezzo-forte the violin soloist is apt to be swamped.
The times when I could hear Tetzlaff's playing truly convinced me that he had the measure of the score. On the whole, I'd hope that the conductor could do a little more to redress the balance in at least some of those louder passages. But here we run up against the fact that Karem Hasan was a late substitute for the programmed conductor, and may well not have had time to study the work adequately. It's definitely not in the mainstream repertoire in the same way as the Debussy and Beethoven compositions.
Overall, it was a creditable run at a challenging and not terribly rewarding work. But given a choice among twentieth-century violin concertos, I would opt any day for Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1, with the Barber concerto as runner-up.
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