Above: conductor Klaus Mäkelä, photographed by Cheikki Tuuli
~ Author: Ben Weaver
Saturday December 10th, 2022 - I keep thinking of all the time previous NY Philharmonic artistic director Alan Gilbert wasted on the loud, blousy, and ultimately uninteresting music of Christopher Rouse at the expense of countless other contemporary composers - many of whom remain little-known, but write music of significantly more interest. One such composer is Jimmy López Bellido, born in Lima, Peru in 1978. He received his musical training in Lima, Helsinki, and Berkeley (where he currently resides). His fascinating work Perú Negro was premiered by the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra in 2013, and is receiving its New York Philharmonic premiere in these performances of December 8-11, 2022, under the baton of Klaus Mäkelä, making his New York debut.
Mr. López Bellido (above, photo by Franciel Braga) has been making quite the name for himself over the past few years, including composing an opera, Bel Canto, for the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Perú Negro is based on Afro-Peruvian folk music and consists of six interconnected sections. Its opening is a memorable four-note motif based on cries of street vendors in Lima, first played (beautifully) by the horns and then picked up by other brass instruments before the rest of the orchestra joins. There is a slight Latin swing to the music, as it gently tangoes to multiple climaxes before retreating and building again. Percussion and timpani have much to do (they were the only section of the orchestra Maestro Mäkelä asked to stand at the end of the performance), but unlike countless contemporary composers (yes, looking at Mr. Rouse), López Bellido does not use them as a crutch to transition from one section to the next. The music flows seamlessly, each new pronouncement rooted in what came before it. While the orchestra is large, the music is never dense and loud for its own sake. The effortless ebb and flow reveal a masterly composer. The work ends in a controlled frenzy with the return of the opening “fanfare.” So many new works one hears once and walks away not caring about hearing again. I would not only love to hear Perú Negro again, but I hope the Philharmonic explores Mr. López Bellido’s other works as well. His is a voice worth hearing.
Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 54 is something of a bastard child sandwiched between the far more familiar and beloved Fifth and Seventh. It’s flaw is, perhaps, that it is a less flashy work than its siblings, certainly not as loud (at least not as consistently loud). It was composed in 1939 and premiered by Yevgeny Mravinsky in Leningrad. New York’s 1943 premiere was led by Fritz Reiner and it hasn’t been heard here since 2002 when André Previn conducted it. Its return is most welcome. The symphony opens with a long Largo movement, somber and contemplative in tone. Whatever tragedies Shostakovich had in mind, they are hidden under the surface. There was a lot of beautiful and hushed playing by the strings here, as well as the masterly flute of Robert Langevin. The opening slow movement is longer than the following two movements combined. The Allegro light and flighty, with occasional bursts of darkness. The closing Presto brings a carnival-like atmosphere. There was a wonderful, if brief, solo from Frank Huang. According to reports, this finale was encored at the premiere.
It was quite fun to watch Klaus Mäkelä conduct these works. He is currently the chief conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic, music director of the Orchestre de Paris, and artistic partner of the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. He will become chief conductor of the Concertgebouw in 2027. He is a very physical musician - a feature many young conductors seem to share these days. A handsome and graceful figure on the podium, he helps build moods with his expressive face and gestures.
I only had a brief reservation about it during the second half of the program, Tchaikovsky’s familiar Pathetique Symphony. The work itself is already so emotional that reenacting every outburst felt a bit gratuitous. But certainly one can’t fault Maestro Mäkelä’s enthusiasm, especially when the orchestra played this magnificently. There were wonderful contributions from veteran bassoonist Judith LeClair and clarinetist Anthony McGill. The end of the Scherzo brought out spontaneous applause, though Maestro Mäkelä did not wait for it to subside before launching the crushing final movement of the work, which ended in a lengthy silence. A few individuals tried to start the applause, only to fall silent again more than once: a testament to the power of the performance, which the audience needed a moment to process.
Once again, I must comment on the superb new acoustics of the newly renovated David Geffen Hall. The sound envelops, each instrument rings out clearly. One only regrets that it took this long for this to happen.
~ Ben Weaver