concert review: San Francisco Symphony
Jan. 26th, 2006 08:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
calimacOne of MTT's all-Russian programs. He must think he's Leonid Grin or something. (Local joke.)
It began with a short piece by Rimsky-Korsakov I'd never heard. In the wake of the 1905 Revolution, which Rimsky supported, he orchestrated a revolutionary folk-song called "Dubinushka." I didn't think the tune was very catchy, but this is 1905, so this is the world's greatest orchestrator at the height of his powers, with over forty years of experience under his belt. Almost intolerably colorful.
Next we got to hear what Rimsky's prize pupil had to say for himself. His name was Igor Stravinsky, and the piece was Petrushka, just about the last Stravinsky work which really sounds like Son of Rimsky. Had the old man lived to hear it, I think he would have been very proud of the boy's way with the orchestra.
Last week I heard MTT conduct a Brahms symphony in the style of Tchaikovsky. This week we got the straight dope: Tch's Fourth. The sound was wonderful, clear and precise. The interpretation, in the outer movements particularly, though undeniably fast and dramatic, seemed a little empty: mannered and even whiny at times. And I thought, "Yep, the ghost of Lenny stalks the stage." At the end, huge applause with no staying power, which pretty much describes the performance's artistic effect.
But, man, the sound, and the precision and depth of the playing. The strings in particular in the pizzicato scherzo were a real honey. And those awkwardly-timed cross-orchestra bangs that cut off the Fate motto in the finale - the timing was absolutely nailed.
It began with a short piece by Rimsky-Korsakov I'd never heard. In the wake of the 1905 Revolution, which Rimsky supported, he orchestrated a revolutionary folk-song called "Dubinushka." I didn't think the tune was very catchy, but this is 1905, so this is the world's greatest orchestrator at the height of his powers, with over forty years of experience under his belt. Almost intolerably colorful.
Next we got to hear what Rimsky's prize pupil had to say for himself. His name was Igor Stravinsky, and the piece was Petrushka, just about the last Stravinsky work which really sounds like Son of Rimsky. Had the old man lived to hear it, I think he would have been very proud of the boy's way with the orchestra.
Last week I heard MTT conduct a Brahms symphony in the style of Tchaikovsky. This week we got the straight dope: Tch's Fourth. The sound was wonderful, clear and precise. The interpretation, in the outer movements particularly, though undeniably fast and dramatic, seemed a little empty: mannered and even whiny at times. And I thought, "Yep, the ghost of Lenny stalks the stage." At the end, huge applause with no staying power, which pretty much describes the performance's artistic effect.
But, man, the sound, and the precision and depth of the playing. The strings in particular in the pizzicato scherzo were a real honey. And those awkwardly-timed cross-orchestra bangs that cut off the Fate motto in the finale - the timing was absolutely nailed.
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Date: 2006-01-26 06:14 pm (UTC)