Well, I feel like I redeemed myself after my fuzziness on Saturday night, and in general, many things went better for the entire orchestra on Sunday evening than the Saturday opening night’s concert. As much as I love the Mahler First Symphony, the work that is capturing my heart this week is the Britten Violin Concerto. Elina Vähälä played the holy bejesus out of it again Sunday night, and the orchestra seemed steadier in its support of her, and I again found myself being profoundly moved by the sentiment of the piece. Britten never goes for overt sentimentality (unlike, say, Elgar or Walton) – he either grabs you by the throat or goes for very effective understatement – but in the concerto he seems to tread a line that succeeds in capturing the sorrow and pointlessness of war very effectively. The closing chorale tonight was especially devastating to me tonight, with the extreme reaches of the violin’s lowest string being used to sound like a cry of unutterable pain and anguish.
We had some friends from Seattle at the concert last night, and they are tough people to please (very respected musicians, both) and they were unanimous in their praise of the orchestra, soloist, and performances. They especially enjoyed the chamber music character of the third movement of the Mahler, and the performance by Elina, and said that the orchestra really had no weaknesses. What a nice way to cap off the season!
2 replies on “second night thoughts”
I think you were too hard on yourself and the orchestra on Saturday night. Obviously, you know more than I about how things went, being a musician and orchestra member. However, I thought Saturday night was fine from my perspective as an audience member. I was in a different location Sunday night and got a different perspective. Perhaps you are correct that the performances were better Sunday night ( I believe I would give a little edge to Sunday night). I just know that I enjoyed both nights immensely. I only hope that the Britten returns again soon. It is such a moving piece, just fascinating to listen to when done by an outstanding soloist such as Vahala.
Thanks, Curtis – I must say that my opinion of an evening is very much colored by my impression of how I feel my performance went that night, so it’s not entirely to be taken as gospel. Just one musician’s opinion in the thick of things!