This week’s Oregon Symphony concerts are ones that I wouldn’t really be looking forward to, if I were just looking at the program on paper.
I’ve played Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony quite a few times – perhaps the most of any of his nine – and though I love it, if it is interpreted ‘improperly’ (imho) it can be either a frazzling, tiring mess, or a turgid, tiring mess. Or sometimes both at the same time. But thankfully, under guest conductor Mark Wigglesworth, this will be a satisfying and elegant interpretation of one of Beethoven’s greatest compositional utterances. The tempos are not breakneck, by any means, but neither do they dawdle, and it’s shaping up to be one of the more satisfying performances I’ve taken part in of this piece.
Recommended study recording: Carlos Kleiber/Vienna Philharmonic
As for Witold Lutoslawski’s Fourth Symphony, I am a big fan of his music, but did not know his symphonic output, other than his great (and difficult) Concerto for Orchestra (which we did a few seasons back with Carlos Kalmar). But, digging into this piece in rehearsal, I’ve realized that it’s a true masterpiece of the 20th Century. It is remarkably efficient, compositionally speaking – there is little waste (i.e., over orchestrating, padding with repeated material, etc.), and there is an underlying logic that flows throughout the four interconnected movements that is compelling. His sound world is supremely evocative – I get a sense of ‘Frenchness’ from how he writes. Elegance is pervasive, also sophistication, and a keen sense of when to use extremely sparing orchestrations to create moments of surprising intimacy. So often contemporary composers go to ’11’ when they can say much more powerful things with the dial set to ‘1’. I highly recommend coming to hear this great work!
Recommended study recording: Esa Pekka Salonen/Los Angeles Philharmonic
Making his Oregon Symphony debut (along with with guest conductor Mark Wigglesworth) is the remarkable German cellist Johannes Moser. He’ll be playing the beautiful (and slightly tortured) Cello Concerto of Robert Schumann. Moser is one of the rising stars of the cello world, and brings a gorgeous sound and Romantic sensibility, combined with modern clarity and insight, to everything he plays. He is also an accomplished improvisor and has a strong commitment to contemporary music.
Recommended study recording: Johannes Moser/Berlin Philharmonic/Mehta (YouTube video).
You’ll definitely want to check out the Concert Conversations talk with conductor Mark Wigglesworth and All Classical 89.9 host Christa Wessel one hour before each concert – it will be a lively discussion about the repertoire of each night’s concert!
