The Berliner Philharmoniker is in the course of a must-see US tour presenting Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Isle of the Lifeless, Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Violin Concerto, Antonin Dvorák’s Symphony No.7, and Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No.5. In a number of east coast appearances, chief conductor Kirill Petrenko, an elusive however unbelievable artist, and the world-famous orchestra didn’t disappoint.
The orchestra’s newest American tour included a cease in Washington, DC, three live shows in New York, one in Boston, adopted by performances in Ann Arbor and Chicago. I attended final week’s efficiency at Carnegie Corridor (Rachmaninoff, Korngold, and Dvorák) and final Wednesday’s in Boston (Bruckner). Whereas each applications contained solely canonical works, the performances this season of Bruckner’s 5th was Petrenko’s first time main the composer’s work along with his personal orchestra.
Neither program used an particularly massive orchestra aside from the Isle of the Lifeless, with diminished strings for the Korngold concerto; the concerto, Dvorák, and Bruckner symphonies solely referred to as for woodwinds in pairs, not like Bruckner’s subsequent huge symphonies. This allowed lots of the orchestra’s top-class musicians to swap out between applications. Principal horns Yun Zeng and Stefan Dohr had their moments to shine within the Dvorák and Bruckner respectively, although the horn ensemble generally lacked cohesion within the latter work. Principal oboists Jonathan Kelly and Albrecht Mayer each offered particularly lucid solos.
Moreover, the Berliner Philharmoniker’s extremely wealthy string sound, led by concertmasters Noah Bendix-Baxley (on each applications) and Daishin Kashimoto (on the Bruckner), was aided by the choice to rotate part gamers’ seats between every bit on each applications, making a unified really feel. The seating association of antiphonal violins (with cellos and first violins subsequent to one another) additionally allowed Petrenko to spotlight Bruckner’s contrapuntal writing, developed notably skillfully within the Austrian composer’s 5th symphony from 1878.
For instance, within the first motion at measure 250, the second violins sing a lyrical line which the primary violins be a part of and mix collectively — probably the most elegant moments of any Bruckner symphony — adopted by a startling interruption with the opening fortissimo ascending theme. Whereas most of it’s not very melodic, the symphony comprises many thematic exchanges between devices, a great solution to showcase the orchestra’s unparalleled unified sound whereas celebrating Bruckner’s bicentennial.
Petrenko additionally saved the tempos comparatively brisk all through the Bruckner symphony. This allowed him to deliver out the thematic continuity between Bruckner’s themes that may usually appear episodic and even disjointed. The final motion’s opening restatement of the earlier actions’ themes drew clear parallels to the finale of Beethoven’s 9th of their kinds. Pushing forward with the tempo additionally allowed Petrenko to indicate the connection between the string melody and brass chorale which foregrounds the final motion.
Nonetheless, Petrenko’s determination to make the second motion “Adagio, Sehr langsam” really feel faster than the opening “Adagio” was curious. Whereas this brisker tempo averted confronting the positive line between contemplative and dreadfully boring that one dangers when taking Bruckner’s music slowly, the relative lack of stateliness within the inside actions truly made the meditative pizzicati at first of the outer actions extra impactful.
The Bohemian cousin to Bruckner’s ländler-filled symphony, Dvorák’s Symphony No.7 can be admired for its well-crafted structure. Like with the Bruckner, Petrenko’s management of the dynamic and tempo contrasts had been key in highlighting Dvorák’s improvement of the thematic materials, at occasions lyrical and different occasions pressing and frantic. On the one hand, flautist Emmanuel Pahud, oboist Kelly, and clarinetist Matic Kuder engaged in considerate dialogue on the finish of the mournful second motion. Alternatively, Petrenko and the Berlin Philharmoniker introduced out the piece’s rustic really feel and folk-inspired components, notably within the third motion’s furiant and rugged strings at first of the ultimate motion.
Like the 2 symphonies, Rachmaninoff’s tone-poem The Isle of the Lifeless begins with ominous low strings. The 5/8 rhythm displays the movement of a mysterious boat’s oars because it transports a garland-draped casket throughout a lake to the namesake island in Arnold Böcklin’s iconic sequence of work. (Rachmaninoff was impressed by a black-and-white print of Böcklin’s canvas.) Petrenko masterfully reworked this alternating 2+3 and three+2 motif right into a ghostly waltz. Because the piece developed, the violins produced breathtaking bow-retakes to reinforce its depth, akin to their method in Bruckner’s final motion fugue. Bendix-Baxley even injected some dissonant tuning in his solo in direction of the tip of the piece, highlighting Rachmaninoff’s Danse Macabre-like environment.
The Norwegian violinist Vilde Frang, filling in for the injured Hillary Hahn, offered a delicate rendition of Korngold’s Hollywood-infused Violin Concerto. Korngold was unapologetic in his romanticism and drew from his melodramatic movie scores like One other Daybreak and Anthony Hostile for the piece’s themes. Whereas her higher register was often overpowered by the orchestra throughout quieter moments, Frang relished the staccato double-stops of the fist-movement cadenza and produced an intensely biting sound for the energetic Prince and the Pauper-inspired finale.
One other spectacular dimension of each performances was Petrenko’s physicality on the rostrum. Although constantly unassuming along with his orchestra, he was nonetheless in clear command and having fun with himself: crouching and shrugging to emphasise dynamic contrasts in each symphonies’ remaining actions or baseball bat swing-like gestures to encourage the low strings and brass through the scherzo within the Bruckner.
Petrenko’s visitor appearances within the US are exceedingly uncommon — 12 years since his final Met Opera look for Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina. Like Sir Antonio Pappano, let’s hope he comes again extra usually.
Photographs: Rob Davidson and Stefan Cohen
