Tonight is the first concert this season in the Kimmel Center's Great Orchestra Series. The New York Philharmonic returns to Philadelphia under the baton of famous Spanish conductor, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos. Mr. Frühbeck is particularly well known for conduction the works of his countryman, Manuel de Falla. Falla's The Three-Cornered Hat Suites are on the program tonight. Philadelphia native and acclaimed pianist, André Watts will join the NYPhil for the Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto. Works from Wagner's Tristan and Isolde and Die Meistersinger von Nürenberg begin the evening.
How was your evening? Have you seen the NY Phil before, at the Kimmel Center or elsewhere?
I enjoyed most of last night's concert. It was the first time I saw the NY Philharmonic, the first time I heard the Wagner and Saint-Saens music performed live, and the first time I ever heard the Falla music.
For me, the highlight was seeing Andre Watts. He plays with a lot of power and conviction, and his performance of the third movement of the Saint-Saens concerto was intense.
I'd never seen him live before, he's constantly moving, moving his mouth while playing and fidgeting with the bench when the orchestra takes over.
I also enjoyed seeing De Burgos conduct. His-- and the orchestra's--attention to dynamics brought out the drama in the Wagner music, especially the Prelude from Tristan.
Thanks for the tickets, Erin, it was a blast.
Andre Watts and the NY were "electric" in the Saint Saens!
I was absolutely blown away by my first experience at Verizon Hall. I heard the NY Philharmonic accompanied by Andre Watts.
Wagner himself couldn't have been more pleased by any other interpretation of his work. The combination of the performance of the Philharmonic and the ambience of the Kimmel Center was heavenly.
Thank you and congratulations on a great performance.
Frank Rebalsky
It was definitely a thrilling concert! I wasn't as impressed by the Wagner, although the Meistersinger selections had some exciting moments. The Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde seemed to have all the notes in the right places, but somehow it didn't all hold together for me. Please don't get me wrong; it was all well played and very enjoyable, but I've heard performances that seem to do a better job with the overall architecture of this music, at least to my ears.
The Saint-Saens, on the other hand, was brilliant! I've never heard Andre Watts sound so good, grunts and foot-tapping included. I also don't think I've ever heard that concerto played with such outright bravura, and to my ears it worked fabulously. The second movement (my favorite in the piece) literally had me on the edge of my seat.
The Falla too was absolutely wonderful. Clearly this is music close to Fruhbeck de Burgos' heart! It all seemed to flow so naturally from the orchestra, almost as though you weren’t listening to a specific interpretation, but rather the music as it was simply intended to be. For a while there I really felt as if I had been transported to Spain!
*Note: I attended this concert of the ny phil in Philadelphia, as well. Although the Kimmel Center has its issues, I thought the hall (and orchestra) sounded great. Please bear with my review below- it’s for a class!*
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Michael Mauskapf
“Acoustic Stagnation in New York”
Concert information: New York Philharmonic, March 18th, 8 pm, Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center Plaza; featuring Xian Zhang, conductor and Ingolf Turban, Violin; program included Rossini’s Overture to L’Italiana in Algeri, Paganini’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in Eb, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony no. 5 in E minor.
Unlike many plausible concert situations, this particular performance did not include FOH, mains, monitors, or snakes. Instead, an out of date acoustical warehouse and my own measly pair of ears were all that I was equipped with for this particular trip to hear the NY Philharmonic. While I could talk at length about the music they played and its variable degree of effectiveness, I think it more appropriate to touch on some interesting choices that were made (whether intentionally or not) that affected the production (and reception!) of sound.
To start with, some basic information: I was seated, along with some friends, in the third tier, center, of Avery Fisher Hall. In other words, the stage is far, far away. Too far away, in most instances. For the opening overture, the orchestra was reduced in size- in a 6-6-4-4-3 setup for strings, and no doubling of the winds. Normally, this would create a smaller, more intimate (and in the case appropriate) sound. However, in Avery Fisher this meant that only unison or tutti lines could clearly be heard, while more sparsely orchestrated sections became lost in the space. Similar things took place in the violin concerto; here, however, the soloist also suffered. While he made a valiant attempt at mastering Paganini’s technical prowess, the musicality more than suffered. Out of tune double stops and flubbed technical passages were the norm, and the hall swallowed up ever harmonic that sounded from the soloist. Interesting note: The soloist chose to play in the original key, D Major, while the orchestra played in Eb. The soloist tuned his violin down to match the orchestra pitch-wise, producing a technique known as scoldatura. Supposedly, it’s supposed to highlight the key of D Major against Eb, showcasing the soloist with the ‘bright’ and ‘brilliance’ of D Major. Alas, the hall won again, and if anything the process was an experiment in original performance practice.
The feature work on the program, Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony, lived up to it’s hype. The degree of color and lushness is not paralleled, in my opinion, in any of his contemporary’s works. Here, the orchestra was at full size (7-7-6-5-8), with doubled winds, and (not surprisingly) doubled trumpets as well. While Tchaikovsky wrote for only two trumpets, it is modern performance practice to have two others sit in and join/relieve the section in ‘big’ moments. Also, the horn section featured a ‘bumper.’ More typical in European orchestras, this player helps carry the principal player’s load, usually before and after solo sections. The hall was more receptive here than before, but still swallowed up the more technical sections (particularly in the third movement). While an ‘acceptable’ hall for bombast and reverberation, Avery Fisher does little to aid listeners in distinguishing orchestral timbre and technique.
*an interesting note: To the best of my knowledge, the strings were set up (from left to right) firsts, seconds, cellos, violas. I’ve never seen a setup like this (first, seconds, viola cello (20th century/American); or firsts, cellos, violas, seconds is more standard), and am not sure for the reasons it was used- perhaps an alternative to the usual American set up However, it didn’t seem to affect the ensemble.