Above: pianist Leif Ove Andsnes, photographed by Michael Lutz
~ Author: Oberon
Monday November 18th, 2019 - Tonight's concert by the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall began magnificently with both the orchestra and pianist Leif Ove Andsnes sounding epic in the opening measures of Edvard Grieg's piano concerto. The pianist's glorious downhill flow of octaves, one of the iconic moments in piano literature, signaled the start of his memorable traversal of the piece.
The BSO's woodwinds, responding to this opening foray, introduced the rather simple main theme; they played gorgeously...all evening! Orchestra and soloist swept forward together, intent on bringing us the music in a grand-scale performance. If there seemed to be a couple of stray notes coming from the Steinway, the generosity of Mr. Andsnes' playing - and his exceptional control in the cadenza - made for an absorbing musical experience. There were times, though, when he seemed to really be pummeling the keyboard.
The BSO strings positively glowed in the opening passages of the Adagio. There's a long wait for the pianist to join this movement, but when he did, Mr. Andsnes' playing seemed so organic, so thoroughly enmeshed in the orchestration. Opulent, rich sounds from the horns pricked up the ear, and marvelous sustained tones from cellist Blaise Désjardin lustrously underscored Mr. Andsnes' lyrical 'song'.
The rollicking dance of the concerto's final movement is interrupted by an interlude with solo flute before the tempo quickens and and pianist and orchestra dance on to a brilliant finish.
Vociferous and insistent applause drew Mr. Andsnes back for an encore which, Ben Weaver told me, was also by Grieg. It seemed musically uninteresting - and a bit too long - despite expert playing.
Following the interval, the Austrian soprano soprano Genia Kühmeier (above) joined the BSO for a performance of Mahler's 4th symphony. Up until tonight, I had always thought of the 4th as my favorite among the Mahler symphonies, and very high on my list of beloved orchestral works.
Though sumptuously played by the Boston Symphony artists, a surprising feeling of tedium eventually set in. Mahler's frequent excursions down musical by-ways - and his numerous interjections of little doodling passages - soon got under my skin, and not in a good way.
The first movement was pleasant enough, but the second seemed endless. Thereafter, Maestro Nelsons' conducting of the adagio felt almost precious as he seemed intent on slowly drawing each phrase from his players; the music crawled forward, losing its shape. Looking around me, it seemed that several audience members had fallen asleep; and a few actually got up and left the hall.
At last Ms. Kühmeier appeared, elegant in an emerald-green gown. The soprano's timbre is very appealing, and she turned the phrases of the symphony's concluding song with persuasive lyricism; the natural flow of her words exuded poetic grace without fussiness.
The song reached its quiet ending, the soprano having cleared away most of the misgivings one might have felt about the conductor's take on the music. But then Mr. Nelsons pretentiously kept his arm aloft, forestalling applause for several seconds and perhaps trying to lend a feeling of the profound to music which, essentially, isn't.
I found my mind wandering back to Alan Gilbert's rendering of the 4th with The New York Philharmonic in 2017 when he, soprano Christine Landshamer, and the Philharmonic players reaffirmed my abiding love for the piece. Now I have to find that love again.
~ Oberon