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New York Philharmonic
www.nyphil.org
Lorin Maazel, Music Director
Zarin Mehta, President and Executive Director
Jonathan Nott, Conductor (NY Philharmonic Debut)
(Jonathan Nott Website)
Joshua Bell, Violin
(Joshua Bell Website)
Performed at Avery Fisher Hall
www.lincolncenter.org
212.875.5656
Dr. Roberta E. Zlokower and Robert D. Ekselman
January 14, 2006
Program:
John Corigliano (b. 1938): Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, “The Red Violin” (1997-2003); New York Premiere: Chaconne, Pianissimo Scherzo, Andante Flautando, Accelerando Finale. Joshua Bell, Solo Violin. This work was commissioned by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and the first movement is from The Red Violin” Chaconne. The World Premiere in various forms has been performed by the San Francisco Symphony and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Corigliano’s film score for “The Red Violin” won an Oscar in 2000. Instrumentation calls for bassoons, crotales, xylophone, bell tree, and vibraphone. (NY Philharmonic Notes).
R. Strauss (1864-1949): Eine Alpensinfonie (An Alpine Symphony), Op. 64 (1911-15). The World Premiere of this work was in 1915 in Berlin, and the New York Philharmonic Premiere was in 1916, Josef Stransky conducting. This work, performed without pause, actually has 22 sections, illustrating a nature walk. Instrumentation calls for a “massive orchestra”, including a Heckelphone, wind machine, and thunder sheet. (NY Philharmonic Notes).
Zlokower: John Corigliano, son of the renowned concertmaster of New York Philharmonic, wrote the score for the 2000 historical, passionate, and award-winning film, The Red Violin, directed by François Girard, and Joshua Bell, violinist, performed in the film as the 17th century violin’s voice, a violin that traveled through three centuries and five countries. Corigliano also wrote the “underscore” (background music) and later a 17 minute Chaconne for Violin and Orchestra. Subsequently, he would add the remaining movements (the work is now 38 minutes) to create this Concerto for Violin and Orchestra. I remember being riveted to the New York Philharmonic’s performance of Corigliano’s Symphony No. 1 in 1992 (rushing to buy the CD), and I was even more riveted to tonight’s performance of his Concerto for Violin and Orchestra.
The eerie entrance in the Chaconne of Mr. Bell’s violin merges with the sound of chimes and bursts of muted horns. Splashes of percussion and strings are followed by staccato orchestral surprises. The passionate theme meanders in edgy interludes. The Pianissimo Scherzo brings to mind tiny sprites softly dancing to increasingly swelling sound. I found the Andante Flautando movement mesmerizing, with a “Piazzolla-like”, abstract violin effect, combined with agonizing low tones.
The final Accelerando Finale was driven, dramatic, and daring. Mr. Bell’s racing violin was powerful, impassioned, and pulsating. The echoing rhythms of this movement signaled the return of the rapturous entrance. Jonathan Nott, in his New York Philharmonic debut, brought out remarkable brilliance in Fisher Hall’s acoustics, and he seemed quite comfortable on this podium. The Philharmonic shone brightly, with the strings, bassoons, vibraphone, and eclectic percussion sharing this New York premiere. Kudos to John Corigliano for not only creating an Oscar-winning film score, but also for expanding the work, so that audiences could enjoy this full orchestral concerto with its texture and tempestuousness. Kudos to Joshua Bell for such a momentous performance.
Ekselman: Richard Strauss’ salute to nature -Eine Alpensinfonie - made for the perfect complimentary second half in this exciting and programmatic program. The violin concerto depicts the wanderings and tribulations of a 17th century violin over the course of three hundred years, the central theme being the maker’s doomed wife. Strauss’ tone poem portrays a far more compressed journey – epic nonetheless, whose central theme, the Alpine slopes, is depicted over the course of only a single day.
For sheer scope this piece is memorable, requiring not only a huge orchestra, but, in addition, a brass group backstage, wind machines, cowbells and a thunder sheet. If this fantasia wasn’t actually composed for a movie, it certainly had a potent visual image in mind as it takes us into a virtual IMAX cinema, presenting a feast of pristine pastures, soaring heights, precipitous cliffs set over rugged terrain as well as forests and running streams. We even encounter an apparition. It is as though we were for the first time experiencing all of the foreboding and wonder of a childhood fairytale - and all of this in surround sound stereo!
Strauss maximizes this unique orchestration’s potential in the most ingenious ways, incorporating motives to represent different concepts, using rhythmic repetition to create a feeling of motion, a pulsating, living energy. At other times he explores the very low register of the wind instruments to portray the awesome stillness of night on the mountains. Sometimes we hear only a reduced ensemble, making us more self-consciously alone with our fears, and dwarfed by the vastness of the mountain. When the brass section heralds the sun’s appearance in the horizon, our attention is riveted elsewhere, as we ‘watch’ a golden light envelop the heavens. There is no mistaking the composer’s intention, as he creates in sound a canvas as vivid and subtle as any master impressionist. The winds bring us birdcalls and even drops of rain.
The New York Philharmonic and Maestro Jonathan Nott were in their element with this romantic and full-blooded rendition, with orchestra and conductor equal participants in the exploration. I never really had the feeling of an orchestra following instructions so much as each member journeying and celebrating together. It should also be mentioned that this work requires endurance and virtuosity to make the most of its considerable expressive range and dramatic intensity. This was surely in evidence tonight. The effect was thrilling.
Kudos to Jonathan Nott, and kudos to the New York Philharmonic.
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