This weekend’s Oregon Symphony concerts bring with them a wide range of music, all of which is appealing – from old to new. First things first. Our guest conductor this week is the music director of the Utah Symphony, Thierry Fischer. He’s an athletic, precise, and genteel Swiss man who seems to have that special knack for cajoling what he wants from the hometown band (which can often be difficult to do with some orchestras – however, the Oregon Symphony takes direction easily, and sometimes even eagerly, depending upon who is asking). He’s patient and works in a way that I like – from broad strokes down to fine details, as the rehearsals unfold.
The opening work on the program is one of those pieces that you’ve likely never heard – until you realize that you have heard it! Well, part of it, at least. It’s the Suite from the opera Love for Three Oranges by Sergei Prokofiev. It happens to be fiendishly tricky for many of the sections of the orchestra. There have been grumblings from the ranks of the viola section in the past few weeks over its quick like a flash last movement “The Flight”. And boy, does it fly! It is the third movement March that will bring that “ah, ha!” moment – it was used as the theme song for the 700 episode ABC radio show “The FBI in Peace and War”, which dramatized true life FBI cases (much like today’s lamentable Dateline). In any event, it’s a stunning set of six pieces for full orchestra, meticulously orchestrated, and full of that sardonic wit that would later be appropriated to its fullest by Dmitri Shostakovich.
The Violin Concerto of Magnus Lindberg is the second work on the program. By many accounts, Lindberg is Finland’s leading contemporary composer of the moment. We’ve done at least one work of his before, at the Oregon Symphony, Feria, which was complicated and extremely dense, but with a clearly defined ‘Nordic’ point of view. The Violin Concerto is a it of a different animal. To my ears it’s much more in the vein of what Sibelius might have composed if he were alive today. There are lots of little ‘cells’ of musical material that are repeated throughout the orchestral and solo violin parts – as well as periodic intrusions (much like the calving of an enormous iceberg from the head wall of a glacier) of static, block harmonic passages that would sound right at home in the midst of a Sibelius symphony or tone poem. It is a phenomenally difficult part for the violinist, but, as she has done before in her previous visits, Elina Vähälä is more than equal to the task. It’s always thrilling to watch her rehearse, as she has so internalized every aspect of the music, and her technique is so assured, that it is just phenomenal. I look forward to her every visit here in Portland.
The final work on the program is Tchakovsky’s Symphony No. 4. It’s not my favorite piece to play, I must admit. It is my least favorite of the final three of Tchaikovsky’s six symphonies. I have a hard time with the exaggerated pathos that most conductors try to wring out of this already overwrought music. So, Thierry’s interpretation is something of a pleasant surprise. He has taken away much of the tradition that’s been heaped on the performance practice of this symphony, and has worked diligently to ensure that it is what Tchaikovsky actually wrote on the page that the orchestra plays. And the piece is finally starting to make a bit more sense to me. Yes, there is the Fate motif played at the beginning by the French horns, and all sorts of things happen and all that, but it flows in a way that makes the climaxes really effective, rather than each one trying to outdo the other. Refreshing!
For tickets and information, click the links in the ‘Upcoming Events’ section of the sidebar to the right.