Above: conductor Daniele Rustioni leading The Met Orchestra at Carnegie Hall; photo by Chris Lee
Author: Oberon
Saturday February 11th, 2023 - The Met Orchestra performing music of Bartók, Mussorgsky, and Stravinsky at Carnegie Hall. Bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green was the evening's vocal soloist, with conductor Daniele Rustioni making his Carnegie Hall debut on the podium.
Béla Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra opened the concert. Of this epic, sprawling piece, the composer wrote: "The general mood of the work represents, apart from the jesting second movement, a gradual transition from the sternness of the first movement and the lugubrious death-song of the third, to the life-assertion of the last one." He called it a concerto rather than a symphony because it affords numerous opportunities for the individual instrumental voices; these were brilliantly seized upon tonight by the Met players, who displayed tonal allure and technical surety of a very high level. At times, the music felt like an opera without singing.
From its deep opening theme, the first movement is strongly influenced by Hungarian folk music. We hear from the forlorn flute, harmonizing trumpets, searing violins, the thudding bass drum. The music gets lively, with the oboe, clarinet, and harp each having their say. Fascinating textures tickle the ear before a big and brassy finale is reached. A drumbeat heralds the Scherzo, which takes the form of a witty march. Animated passages for the basses, a brass chorale, droll woodwinds, and swirling harps delight us until things wind down to a solitary drum note.
The third movement is an elegy which begins with an eerie, misterioso feeling, eventually turning grand. A rich passage for the massed violas draws a counter-song from the violins. The music develops a cinematic quality which is then becalmed to a simple trill from the flute.There follows an intermezzo which begins rather drearily but gets interesting when the viola and timpani engage one another. The violins sing, the clarinet dances, cymbals and gong speak up.
Horn calls usher in the bustling dance of the work's final Presto. In this rather overlong movement, Bartók throws everything but the kitchen sink at us. Themes spring up and vanish, and several possible endings seem to loom before us, but each turns out to be a cul-de-sac.
At last, the composer makes an ending, and the audience erupted in a joyous ovation. Maestro Rustioni was rightfully hailed, and he passed among the players, having them rise as individuals or in sections to receive much-deserved acclaim.
Following the interval, Ryan Speedo Green (above, in a Chris Lee photo) joined the orchestra for Modest Mussorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death, in the Shostakovich orchestration (which is dedicated to Galina Vishnevskaya). I have greatly enjoyed Mr. Green's recent Met performances as Varlaam in BORIS GODUNOV (2021) and as Truffaldino in ARIADNE AUF NAXOS (2022); tonight, he triumphed in the really big sing Mussorgsky provides with the Songs and Dances of Death.
The bass-baritone's towering presence is matched by the grandeur of his voice and style; his performance had great authority, for he filled the venerable hall with both splendid sound and a deep sense of humanity.
The opening Lullaby begins as a dark lament; the music becomes more animated, awash with anxiety, as the singer veers from dramatic outbursts to intense subtlety. After a brooding coda, the biting final notes sting like piercing thorns.
The second song, Serenade, became a lyric drama in Mr. Green's presentation. He really feels the music, and he draws us right into it. It is a restless song, with the pulse of a drum, and the singer's expressiveness engaged us totally, rising to a spectacularly powerful, hall-filling climax.
Above: Ryan Speedo Green & Daniele Rustioni; photo by Chris Lee
The orchestra lends an ominous feeling to the poignant Trepak, which turns into a dancelike affair; here Mr. Green's voice and personality were again captivating. When the song turns lyrical, the sighing tuba injects a touch of wit; then the singer simply bowled us over yet again at the conclusion.
By now, Mr. Green had Carnegie Hall under a spell; abbeted by the marvelous Maestro and the dazzlingly coloristic playing of the Met musicians, the singer embarked on the militant The Field Marshal with great authority. The music turns reflective but soon the march strikes up again, building to a full stop. Mr. Green then summoned a tsunami of sound to clinch his success. An epic ovation ensued, with the singer returning to face the roar of the delighted crowd.
Above: Firebird, by Marc Chagall
After the interval, Maestro Rustioni and the Met players enthralled us with Igor Stravinsky's Firebird Suite (1919 version); for me, this is the composer's most brilliant score. I fell in love with this music through many viewings of the New York City Ballet's gorgeous Chagall production, wherein the painter's richly coloured vision aligns so perfectly with Stravinsky's kozmically beautiful score.
Tonight, Maestro Rustioni drew ravishing playing from everyone onstage, with the inimitable David Chan in the concertmaster's chair. The solo voices - oboe, flute, horn - stood out, and the bassoon solo in the Berceuse was pure magic. As the massive sonic textures of the Stravinsky finale filled the Hall, the music seemed to be coursing thru the blood of Maestro Rustioni; his Carnegie Hall debut was a fine success, and I think we have much to look forward to from him in the seasons to come.
Performance photos by Chris Lee, courtesy of Carnegie Hall.
~ Oberon