concert review: Shostakovich at the San Francisco Symphony

[calimac]

MTT conducted an all-Shostakovich program last night, so I had to go, even though (with one shopping stop and another to grab a quick bite to eat) horrible traffic made it take three hours to get to the city, and without a fortuitous parking space I might have been late. Feh.

After a few dances from the early Expressionist ballet The Golden Age, we got highly polished performances of the song cycle From Jewish Folk Poetry and the Fifth Symphony. The sound and playing were up to the usual SFS excellence, but a little less polish and more raw passion might have served them better.

MTT took the symphony's two big slow movements very slowly, solemnly, looking for the Mahlerian angst, pushing the central climaxes (increasing the tempos, in particular), and the shorter fast movements very briskly. The finale in particular sounded as if he was trying to skate over any possible interpretation of it as rejoicing. And the mysterious central slow section was pushed in the other direction, slowing down to a crawl and really bringing out and emphasizing it.

The Jewish folk poetry cycle is considered one of Shostakovich's most characteristic works. He was perhaps the most dedicated philo-semitic gentile composer ever, clearly identifying Jewish suffering with his own, and you can hear it in the music.

About this cycle I can say two things:
1) The first two songs are notable for the gorgeous intricate blending of the soprano and mezzo voices. After that they mostly sing separately.
2) About half the lyrics have the word "Oy" in them.

Comments

[asimovberlioz.livejournal.com]

Just this evening, Jim Svejda on KUSC played a couple of excerpts from this Shostakovich cycle, in an interesting arrangement (à la Kodály) for children's choir.

[Shostakovich] was perhaps the most dedicated philo-semitic gentile composer ever, clearly identifying Jewish suffering with his own, and you can hear it in the music.

On that basis I would agree, but I would like to suggest significant members of the shortlist:

• Bizet, who was close to Jacques Fromenthal Halévy, even marrying that composer's daughter (over the objections of both families).
• Schubert, who composed a setting of Psalm XCII for his friend Salomon Sulzer (1804-1890), the cantor of the Stadttempel synagogue in Vienna.
• Elgar, who had Jewish friends and was interested in cantorial music. And let us not forget
• Bax, who left his wife and children for his mistress, Harriet Cohen.