Schuller, Mozart , Beethoven

Concert

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Symphony Hall, Boston

The great pianist Emanuel Ax was the star feature on this program, offering a delightfully fluid account of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 22 in E-flat. With completely relaxed self-assurance, Ax offered a calmly persuasive reading of this wonderful piece, incorporating a dazzling capacity to fly through the omnipresent runs without unsettling its essential composure. The orchestra under Andris Nelsons provided a subtly sculpted accompaniment, allowing Ax’s generously limpid interpretation to shine through with just the right amount of punctuation and modeling. At the end, the audience rose enthusiastically to its feet, appreciatively calling Ax back to the stage many times.

The Mozart was preceded in the first half by a carefully considered interpretation of Gunther Schuller’s Seven Studies On Themes of Paul Klee, a beautifully varied compilation of themes written when Schuller was just twenty-four. Ranging from Messaien-like bird meditations to flourishing jazz collages, the pieces are a kind of compendium that overlap and bleed into one another in interesting ways. Schuller’s sophistication and daring are apparent throughout, as is his impressibility. One hears, in the space of a few minutes, echoes of not only jazz and Messaien but serial and atmospheric music, suggesting a number of strong influences.

The orchestra played the Beethoven Eroica symphony in the second half of the program, offering a dramatic and punctuated account. Nelsons seemed quite interested in framing some of the phrasing in unconventional but vivid ways, atypically elongating notes and phrases in places, giving more pointed emphasis than one normally observes in other interpretations. The result was a particular kind of theatricality, doing justice to a certain aspect of Beethoven’s greatness.

There is something more darkly poetic and harder to identify which one might well argue is the heart held within that dramatic landscape. That heart is, in many ways, more difficult to convey, its essence more brooding, penetrating, inchoate and less easy to define in musical terms. One might identify it as the suffering side of Beethoven, and to do justice to it one needs to dig well down beneath that dramatic exterior to reveal, in the silences within the dramatic manifold, that aching heart.

That part seemed not quite as evident in this carefully choreographed and punctuated interpretation, whose more distinctive strengths were heard in the carefully shaped intricacies of the Scherzo and the dramatically accelerated themes of the final Allegro. At the end of that Allegro the audience rose enthusiastically to its feet, taken along by the culminating gusto of Nelsons’ interpretation.

More detailed notes on the performances:

Gunther Schuller
Seven Studies on Themes of Paul Klee
1. Antique Harmonies
Haunting shadows accentuated by brass yields to fanfares briefly by the strings.
2. Abstract Trio
Episodic alternating sketches in the winds punctuated by bass clarinet, followed by aggregating horns suggesting caution. Ends with strikingly appealing suddenness by Nelsons.
3. Little Blue Devil
Ferocious intro with great snare drum accompaniment, walking bass and muted, sexy horns. A real jazz background suddenly overlaid by questioning strings in another mode. Meanwhile, the vibes add a running commentary. Sultry horns lead to enveloping vibes. Orchestral drama eventually punctuates the jazz tracking. Nice control exhibited by Nelsons.
4. The Twittering Machine
Humming bees in brass overlaid by squaeling birdlike flutes and piccolos. Percussion woodpeckers abound. We’re all of a sudden in the country! Lovely, but paced, control by Nelsons. Very Messaien-like.
5. Arabian Town
A lone flute lingers and swivels like a solitary dancer in the souk, a Middle Eastern market, taken up by fluttering and wandering oboe. A contrapuntal folk dance enters. Nelsons keeps it bouncing, managing tricky rhythms with adeptness but not constraint.
6. An Eerie Moment
Tough contrapuntal union between harp and violas done expertly. Beautiful recapitulation of the longing flute.
7. Pastorale
Searching recall of dramatic focus. Clarinet solo connects walls of lingering strings, oblique in the shadows, ending meditatively with a wisp of disappearing clarinet beautfiully modulated by Nelsons.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concerto No. 22 in E-Flat, K. 482
Emanuel Ax, piano
Nelsons and Ax both stylish in all-black, Ax’s black shirt, tie and suit combo particularly striking!
Allegro
A warm opening by piano, wonderfully lyrical, enters the darker midsection with conviction. Strings pull off miscellaneous textures with precision. The recapitulated opening theme carried off with elegance, Ax shaping its superficially innocent textures artfully and delicately. The lead into the cadenza beautifully carried off, entering a whole alternative musical world unto itself, ending modestly.
Andante
Quiet opening by orchestra, with the balancing piano gracefully, leads to mid-movement solo by flute and bassoon carried off with delicacy. The lovely paced dialogue between piano and orchestra navigated with subtle energy opens to a quiet questioning by piano with answer by winds, ending the movement.
Allegro – Andantino cantabile – Tempo primo
The familiar and charming piano theme develops out of the box, with woodwind interlacing held well by Nelsons, enabling a wonderfully mellifluous melding of piano and woodwinds. Moderato interlude very gracefully executed, ensuring that a warm delicacy and delightful lyricism prevail.

Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat, Opus 55, “Eroica”
Allegro
Interesting articulations and emphases. Makes nice room for emerging central themes. Nelsons more a cautious “watcher” than a “dancer.” Very fast recapitulation. More a choreographed than passionate interpretation. Not a lot of encapsulated tension in buildups. An Apollinian take on Beethoven. Very fast in conclusion.
Marcia funebre. Adagio Assai
Could be slower. A little too literal. Nothing too haunting here. Nelsons seems overly interested in punctuation rather than in probing lines of musical inquiry. Not sure how much he feels all this. Central fugue comes across as sturdy and clear. A little too intent on punctuation to get to lyrical heart, but better in more carefully controlled and muted sections. A nice, controlled ending.
Scherzo: Allegro Vivace
Nelsons’ precision is particularly good here, in many ways the best movement. Brass fanfare comes off well. Nelsons seems to do extremely well when things need to keep moving. A delicate ending.
Finale: Allegro molto
Good intro, nice and fast. Love the intimate interlacing of elements, but want Nelsons to hold the tension more throughout, especially here in Beethoven-land, not just look for how to distinctively shape the dramatic junctions. A very dramatic, fast ending.

– BADMan