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two concerts
Nov. 21st, 2007 11:08 pm1) The Saint Petersburg Philharmonic, visiting at Davies on Monday, is a machine that would go of itself. All conductor Yuri Temirkanov has to do is give it a kick to start it off. He is in fact a conductor of minimal gestures, while the orchestra is one of maximal precision and ensemble. The crispness with which they buzzed through Mozart's Marriage of Figaro overture and Beethoven's Violin Concerto were delightful and exemplary.
They were well-matched with violinist Julia Fischer, though she's German and entirely lacks the deep Russian sound. Fischer, a young woman in an alarmingly low-cut gown, doesn't have the most beautiful or most consistent tone on the violin, but she is the mistress of controlled phrasing. The tension, even suspense, that she brought to moments like the retransition in the first movement were awesome to hear.
After this, this should have been the perfect orchestra to navigate Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony, a machine-like work that responds well to this approach. But it did not impress at all, mostly because the tempos were too damn fast. Despite the orchestra's possession of The Loudest Gong In The Universe, all the steely power got leeched out of the symphony.
Since SPP's strength is its emsemble rather than its tone, it's odd that their choice of encores should be slower, deep-toned works (one of them Elgar's "Nimrod," perhaps an unusual choice for a Russian orchestra). They were trying to sound more like the Russian National Orchestra than themselves, and why should they do that?
2) San Francisco Symphony on Wednesday under Leonard Slatkin. Haydn's Symphony No. 67, one of his oddly witty works. After standing motionless listening to the two violinists who are the entire ensemble for the third movement trio, Slatkin handed them little pieces of paper (thank-you notes? his business card? tips?) during the minuet reprise.
Despite the indominable Garrick Ohlsson as soloist, Barber's Piano Concerto seemed noisy and tiresome. I much prefer his Violin Concerto.
Nice job with Elgar's Enigma Variations, though. Strong ritard on the end of the W.N. variation to allow it to melt into Nimrod; very effective. All the necessary breaks to clear the mood were taken. Typically eccentric Slatkin coda.
They were well-matched with violinist Julia Fischer, though she's German and entirely lacks the deep Russian sound. Fischer, a young woman in an alarmingly low-cut gown, doesn't have the most beautiful or most consistent tone on the violin, but she is the mistress of controlled phrasing. The tension, even suspense, that she brought to moments like the retransition in the first movement were awesome to hear.
After this, this should have been the perfect orchestra to navigate Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony, a machine-like work that responds well to this approach. But it did not impress at all, mostly because the tempos were too damn fast. Despite the orchestra's possession of The Loudest Gong In The Universe, all the steely power got leeched out of the symphony.
Since SPP's strength is its emsemble rather than its tone, it's odd that their choice of encores should be slower, deep-toned works (one of them Elgar's "Nimrod," perhaps an unusual choice for a Russian orchestra). They were trying to sound more like the Russian National Orchestra than themselves, and why should they do that?
2) San Francisco Symphony on Wednesday under Leonard Slatkin. Haydn's Symphony No. 67, one of his oddly witty works. After standing motionless listening to the two violinists who are the entire ensemble for the third movement trio, Slatkin handed them little pieces of paper (thank-you notes? his business card? tips?) during the minuet reprise.
Despite the indominable Garrick Ohlsson as soloist, Barber's Piano Concerto seemed noisy and tiresome. I much prefer his Violin Concerto.
Nice job with Elgar's Enigma Variations, though. Strong ritard on the end of the W.N. variation to allow it to melt into Nimrod; very effective. All the necessary breaks to clear the mood were taken. Typically eccentric Slatkin coda.
