{"id":17698,"date":"2014-04-24T20:56:49","date_gmt":"2014-04-25T00:56:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.musicalamerica.com\/mablogs\/?p=17698"},"modified":"2014-05-08T19:58:42","modified_gmt":"2014-05-08T23:58:42","slug":"sweeney-perahia-and-honeck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.musicalamerica.com\/mablogs\/?p=17698","title":{"rendered":"Sweeney, Perahia, and Honeck"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

I often attend some 20 concerts a month, with many going unreported. The death on April 2 of my long-time friend and colleague Harris Goldsmith occupied my thoughts completely, and my tribute to him appeared as a Musicalamerica.com news story on\u00a0April 7<\/span>. Instead of several separate reviews, last week\u2019s blog dealt with a single conductor I admire, Gianandrea Noseda,<\/span> who led three orchestras in different venues in the New York area: The Met Orchestra in two Met productions, the Israel Philharmonic in Newark, and the Philadelphia Orchestra on its home territory, Verizon Hall. So let\u2019s try to catch up some of those concerts I\u2019ve neglected in the past month, beginning with\u00a0three in March.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The NYPhil\u2019s <\/span>Sweeney Todd<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Some old poops think the Philharmonic should stick\u00a0exclusively to\u00a0the symphonic repertory. That\u2019s balderdash\u2014at least regarding classic American music theater, which is so much a part of our heritage. When the Phil can gather the superb likes of Bryn Terfel (Sweeney), Emma Thompson (Mrs. Lovett), and Audra McDonald (the Beggar Woman), along with a topnotch supporting cast, marshalled by Music Director Alan Gilbert at his best, in a semi-staging of Stephen Sondheim\u2019s <\/span>Sweeney<\/span><\/i>, I\u2019ll savor that any day over another Dvo\u0159\u00e1k \u201cNew World,\u201d which the orchestra has been playing to death for the past 25 years. (I know the Phil has a certain imprimatur on the symphony, as it premiered it in Carnegie Hall in 1893, and it is <\/em>a great piece, but come on, guys.)\u00a0Sweeney<\/em> was taped for a Live from Lincoln Center broadcast on PBS, soon to be announced. Don\u2019t miss it.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Murray Perahia<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Once again, Perahia offered the most satisfying recital I heard all year, on March 9 at Avery Fisher Hall, a venue whose drier, more focused acoustics I prefer for solo recitals over Carnegie Hall. Among the American pianist\u2019s exquisite performances were a reflective Bach French Suite No. 4, a Beethoven \u201cAppassionata\u201d Sonata with expressive hills and dales yet all the requisite fire one could desire, a playful Schumann <\/span>Papillons <\/span><\/i>(over which I recall Harris especially enthused; he always loved Perahia\u2019s playing), and three Chopin Etudes and the Scherzo No. 2 that benefitted from the pianist\u2019s refusal to overpower the works\u2019 virtuosity. There was a time when Perahia unfortunately reacted adversely to critical descriptions of his performances as \u201csmall scale\u201d by playing more forcefully, which may have led to the injuries that caused a temporary suspension of his career. For the third season in a row such tendencies appear happily to be in the past. There is no other pianist I would rather hear.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Honeck, not Dudamel, at the Phil<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

What a spate of conductor cancellations in New York of late. At Carnegie Hall\u2019s Vienna Festival, Daniele Gatti cancelled <\/span>Wozzeck <\/span><\/i>on February 28 due to \u201cacute inflammation of the tendon in both shoulders,\u201d with Franz Welser-M\u00f6st stepping in [blog 3-14-14]. Gatti’s appearance\u00a0in a\u00a0Vienna Philharmonic concert on March 15 was also cancelled, with Christoph Eschenbach subbing. Two weeks ago, Lorin Maazel cancelled two Munich Philharmonic all-Strauss concerts at Carnegie due to \u201cillness\u201d (after he had stood in for Gatti in a Vienna Phil concert in Los Angeles). Valery Gergiev, Maazel\u2019s controversial successor as music director in Munich next year, flew in from London for one day to conduct the first Carnegie concert, cancelling a concert in Siberia in the process. Fabio Luisi, in town to rehearse the Met\u2019s <\/span>La Cenerentola<\/span><\/i>, led the second Carnegie concert.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the end of March, Gustavo Dudamel cancelled a highly anticipated (for once the phrase is accurate!) engagement at the NYPhil due to \u201csevere flu,\u201d not long after a Los Angeles Philharmonic American tour that included a pair of Lincoln Center concerts <\/span>[blog 3-20-14]. In his stead was Pittsburgh Symphony Music Director Manfred Honeck leading Dudamel\u2019s program, Claude Vivier\u2019s <\/span>Orion <\/span><\/i>and Bruckner\u2019s Ninth Symphony. I’ve been waiting for Honeck to impress me as much as he apparently does my colleagues. This time I walked out thinking he must be deaf, or at least soon will be. The ferocity with which he unleashed the Philharmonic brass in Avery Fisher Hall was unmerciful to the\u00a0audience, the players’ longevity, and to Bruckner’s reputation.\u00a0 The night I attended,\u00a0an audience member let go with a loud\u00a0“whew” during\u00a0the long silence following the triple-forte <\/em>onslaught before the third-movement coda.\u00a0 A couple of\u00a0sensitive moments, such as the velvety string attack in bar 155 of the finale, were reminiscent of the 1966 Karajan recording, but otherwise I yearned for Erich Leinsdorf, who knew how to get a warm, idiomatic\u00a0tone from this traditionally anti-Bruckner orchestra. I enjoyed the Vivier piece, despite or perhaps because of its nods to Var\u00e8se, Messiaen, and the opening of Das Rheingold <\/em>and would not mind hearing it again.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

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

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

4\/25 Metropolitan Opera at 7:30. Rossini: <\/span>La Cenerentola<\/span><\/i>. Fabio Luisi, cond. Joyce DiDonato (Cinderella), Javier Camarena (Don Ramiro, the prince), Alessandro Corbelli (Don Magnifico, the wicked stepfather), Patricia Risley and Rachelle Durkin (Tisbe and Clorinda, the wicked stepsisters), Luca Pisaroni<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>(Alidoro).<\/span><\/p>\n

4\/28 Symphony Space at 7:30. Cutting Edge Concerts\/Victoria Bond. Performances by Sequitur, loadbang, and Mivos. New works by Harold Meltzer, Andy Kozar, Carlos Cordeiro, Jeffrey Gavatt, William Lang, Victor Lowrie, Josh Modney, Olivia De Prato, and Mariel Roberts.<\/span><\/p>\n

4\/29 Zankel Hall at 6:00. Augustin Hadelich, violin; Steven Schick, percussion; Paul Lazar, actor. David Lang: <\/span>Mystery Sonatas <\/span><\/i>(world premiere). John Cage: <\/span>Indeterminacy <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>27\u201910.554\u201d <\/span><\/i>for a percussionist.<\/span><\/p>\n

4\/30 Carnegie Hall. Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus\/Robert Spano. Brooklyn Youth Chorus. Evelina Dobracheva, soprano; Anthony Dean Griffey, tenor; Stephen Powell, baritone. Britten: <\/span>War Requiem.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

5\/1 Carnegie Hall. Richard Goode, piano. Jan\u00e1\u010dek: <\/span>On the Overgrown Path<\/span><\/i>, Book I (selections). Schumann: <\/span>Davidsb\u00fcndlert\u00e4nze<\/span><\/i>. Debussy: Pr\u00e9ludes, Book I.<\/span><\/p>\n

5\/2 Carnegie Hall. Philadelphia Orchestra\/Yannick N\u00e9zet-S\u00e9guin, conductor; Lisa Batiashvili, violin. Barber: <\/span>Adagio for Strings<\/span><\/i>. Bart\u00f3k: Violin Concerto No. 1. Bruckner: Symphony No. 9.<\/span><\/p>\n

5\/5 Carnegie Hall at 7:30. Spring for Music. New York Philharmonic\/Alan Gilbert; Jacques Imbrailo, baritone; Westminster Symphonic Choir; Brooklyn Youth Chorus. Christopher Rouse: Requiem (N.Y. premiere).<\/span><\/p>\n

5\/6 Carnegie Hall at 7:30. Spring for Music. Seattle Symphony\/Ludovic Morlot. John Luther Adams: <\/span>Become Ocean <\/span><\/i>(N.Y. premiere). Var\u00e8se: <\/span>D\u00e9serts<\/span><\/i>. Debussy: <\/span>La Mer<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

5\/7 Carnegie Hall at 7:30. Spring for Music. Rochester Philharmonic\/Michael Christie; singers from the Eastman School of Music Opera Department. Hanson: <\/span>Merry Mount <\/span><\/i>(complete concert performance).<\/span><\/p>\n

5\/8 Avery Fisher Hall at 7:30. New York Philharmonic\/Bernard Haitink; Leonidas Kavakos, violin. Webern: <\/span>Im Sommerwind<\/span><\/i>. Berg: Violin Concerto. Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 (<\/span>Eroica<\/span><\/i>).<\/span><\/p>\n