{"id":17607,"date":"2014-04-18T07:35:10","date_gmt":"2014-04-18T11:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.musicalamerica.com\/mablogs\/?p=17607"},"modified":"2014-05-08T19:52:27","modified_gmt":"2014-05-08T23:52:27","slug":"gianandrea-noseda-scores-in-the-outskirts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.musicalamerica.com\/mablogs\/?p=17607","title":{"rendered":"Gianandrea Noseda Scores in the Outskirts"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sedgwick Clark<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

My introduction to Italian conductor Gianandrea Noseda was his emotionally devastating performance of Britten\u2019s <\/span>War Requiem<\/span><\/i> with the London Symphony Orchestra at Lincoln Center in October 2011. Since then I\u2019ve made a point of hearing as many of his New York concerts as possible. He has been hereabouts for the past three months, leading a glowing, ambitious new edition of Borodin\u2019s unfinished <\/span>Prince Igor <\/span><\/i>and a warmly expressive <\/span>Andrea Ch\u00e9nier <\/span><\/i>at the Met, a revelatory Israel Philharmonic tour concert on March 29 at NJPAC in Newark, and Saint-Sa\u00ebns\u2019s Third Symphony (\u201cOrgan\u201d) with the Philadelphia Orchestra on home territory in Verizon Hall on April 13, which I happily heard for the first time with a genuine pipe organ. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s deal with the revelation straight off\u2014the first time in my experience that the Israel Philharmonic, of which Noseda is principal guest conductor, has sounded like a decent orchestra. What is an orchestra supposed to do: play together, right? For at least 35 years, to my ears, the IPO has sounded like an orchestra at odds with itself\u2014a group of aspirant soloists, to be kind; or as a fellow music lover used to say, a ragtag bunch of gypsies. With coarse, arid tone besides. Wonder of wonders, Noseda had these musicians playing an all-French program not only precisely but also beautifully in NJPAC\u2019s warm, clear acoustics.<\/span><\/p>\n

I arrived late for Faur\u00e9\u2019s <\/span>Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande <\/span><\/i>suite (an indication, perhaps, of my trepidation at hearing the IPO after years of avoidance). But Ravel\u2019s <\/span>Ma M\u00e8re l\u2019Oye <\/span><\/i>(Mother Goose) suite and the second suite from <\/span>Daphnis et Chlo\u00e9 <\/span><\/i>instantly put me at ease with their excellent ensemble, transparent textures, and tonal beauty. The IPO\u2019s heretofore unruly strings positively shimmered under their conductor\u2019s leadership. Now, Maestro Noseda, how about Ravel\u2019s <\/span>complete<\/span><\/i> ballet scores of these works with the Israelis?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Pungent woodwinds and dynamic timpani were only some of the welcome details in Noseda\u2019s Berlioz <\/span>Symphonie fantastique<\/span><\/i>. He took the first-movement repeat but not the usually ignored one in the brief March to the Scaffold; I would have loved the repeat because of the delightfully grotesque blat of the trombone (or was it an actual opheclide, as Berlioz requests?). I heartily approve that he included the optional cornet in the second movement, but I thought the player too reticent to fully register the cackling ostinato rhythms and military color of the instrument. The balance was the same on a live recording Noseda made with the IPO in January, released by Helicon in time for the tour, so it was evidently what he intended. If the malevolence of the Witches\u2019 Sabbath finale seemed a bit tame to me, I nevertheless found much instrumental detail to savor. Noseda\u2019s accomplishments with this orchestra remain amazing.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Two weeks later he was on the podium of one of the world\u2019s great ensembles, the Philadelphia Orchestra, leading Saint-Sa\u00ebns\u2019s \u201cOrgan\u201d Symphony. Astonishingly, neither of New York\u2019s major concert halls has a real organ. One must travel to Philly or Boston to hear one in a proper-size hall. Noseda certainly has the measure of this glorious Romantic masterwork. Moreover, no recording ever made, in any living or listening room I know, no matter how capacious and acoustically treated, can beat the Verizon Hall pipe organ\u2019s <\/span>fortissimo <\/span><\/i>outburst in the flesh.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In the program\u2019s first half, Noseda led Symphonic Fragments from the opera <\/span>La donna serpente <\/span><\/i>by Alfredo Casella. The conductor has performed and recorded works by Casella and other lesser-known 20th-century Italian composers. The music is tuneful and pleasant when so expertly performed. But Respighi he is not, except when parts of <\/span>Fountains of Rome <\/span><\/i>creep into the beginning of the second fragment.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Canadian violinist James Ehnes\u2019s reputation for beautiful tone was vividly on display in Prokofiev\u2019s Second Violin Concerto, a lyrical work contemporaneous with <\/span>Romeo and Juliet<\/span><\/i>. Where some fiddlers find traces of diablerie and sarcasm from the composer\u2019s earlier style, Ehnes emphasized the creamy melodies and long line to luscious effect, ideally accompanied by Noseda. The two have recorded all of Prokofiev\u2019s violin music for Chandos.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Noseda will conduct\u00a0Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (“Choral”)\u00a0in New York at the Mostly Mozart Festival\u00a0in August, and on December 7 at Carnegie Hall\u00a0he will\u00a0lead the Teatro Regio Torino, of which he has been music director since 2007, in a concert performance of Rossini\u2019s <\/span>William Tell<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Looking Forward<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

My week\u2019s scheduled concerts (8:00 p.m. unless otherwise noted): <\/span><\/p>\n

4\/21 Symphony Space at 7:30. Cutting Edge Concerts\/Victoria Bond. Blue Streak Ensemble. Robert Paterson: <\/span>Sextet<\/span><\/i>. Margaret Brouwer: <\/span>Inner Voices <\/span><\/i>(premiere). Victoria Bond: <\/span>Clara <\/span><\/i>(excerpts). David T. Little: <\/span>descanso <\/span><\/i>(waiting). Jonathan Tunick: <\/span>Trio<\/span><\/i> (premiere). Margaret Brouwer: <\/span>Shattered Glass <\/span><\/i>(N.Y. premiere).<\/span><\/p>\n

4\/23 Zankel Hall at 6:00. Tuvan Throat Singing. P\u00e4rt:<\/span> Passio.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n