{"id":13656,"date":"2013-09-26T16:44:56","date_gmt":"2013-09-26T20:44:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.musicalamerica.com\/mablogs\/?p=13656"},"modified":"2014-03-15T17:53:36","modified_gmt":"2014-03-15T21:53:36","slug":"back-in-the-trenches-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicalamerica.com\/mablogs\/?p=13656","title":{"rendered":"Back in the Trenches Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Sedgwick Clark<\/strong><\/p>\n

The bloated pomposity of Lorin Maazel\u2019s \u201cinterpretation\u201d of the Star-Spangled Banner<\/em> was the first reason PK swore off his concerts. I\u2019m certain she would have been relieved initially by Alan Gilbert\u2019s spiffy tempo last night at the New York Philharmonic\u2019s season opener. But by the final cadence I could imagine her saying, \u201cThere\u2019s no singing line. No freedom<\/em>.\u201d Ever the contrarian, I would point out that he slowed the tempo for the final couplet. \u201cThat was an intellectual decision\u2014where was\u00a0the feeling?\u201d I can\u2019t disagree. Loosen up, Maestro: It\u2019s okay to love our national anthem.<\/p>\n

I wanted to shout, \u201cSing out, Louise,\u201d during Gilbert\u2019s curiously muted performance of the concert’s first work, Ravel\u2019s Dawn Song of the Jester<\/em>, better known as Alborado del gracioso<\/em>. There was no fun, no lilt, no rhythmic snap or abandon in fortissimos, no atmosphere or yearning in the quiet middle section. As usual with the Philharmonic strings in Avery Fisher Hall, massed pizzicatos\u2014so important in this piece for their evocation of Spanish guitars\u2014went for nothing. It doesn\u2019t help that conductors these days see a pianissimo marking and have the strings play at the brink of audibility. Nor is it helpful to drape a (festive?) curtain over the back reflecting wall of the stage.<\/p>\n

But everything changed the moment the evening’s soloist,\u00a0cellist Yo-Yo Ma, walked onstage. Working with a musician with such a natural sense of rubato and expressiveness, Gilbert loosened up too. Osvaldo Golijov\u2019s Azul<\/em>, for cello and orchestra, bathes the listener in a half hour of lambent melody, and it was gorgeously played by all. Equally enticing was the tuneful Suite from Piazzolla\u2019s La serie del \u00c1ngel<\/em>, which followed.<\/p>\n

The gala ended with a smashing performance of Ravel\u2019s Bol\u00e9ro<\/em>. The Philharmonic is in great shape these days, and it will be fun to compare this with the Philadelphia\u2019s performance at Carnegie Hall\u2019s opening next week.<\/p>\n

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

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

9\/28 Metropolitan Opera. Mozart: Cos\u00ec fan tutte<\/em>. James Levine (cond.) Susanna Phillips (Fiordiligi), Isabel Leonard (Dorabella), Danielle de Niese (Despina), Matthew Polenzani (Ferrando), Rodion Pogossov (Guglielmo), Maurizio Muraro (Don Alfonso).<\/p>\n

10\/2 at 7:00. Carnegie Hall. Philadelphia Orchestra\/Yannick N\u00e9zet-S\u00e9guin; Joshua Bell, violin; Esperanza Spalding , vocals and double bass. Tchaikovsky: Slavonic March. Saint-Sa\u00ebns: Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso. Ravel: Tzigane<\/em>. Saint-Sa\u00ebns: Bacchanale from Samson and Dalila<\/em>. Performances by Esperanza Spalding. Ravel: Bol\u00e9ro<\/em>.<\/p>\n

10\/3 Carnegie Hall. American Symphony Orchestra\/Leon Botstein. Antheil: A Jazz Symphony<\/em>. Griffes: Poem<\/em>. Ruggles: Men and Mountains<\/em>. Copland: Organ Symphony. Var\u00e8se: Am\u00e9riques.<\/em><\/p>\n