Revel in Ravel with the Juilliard Orchestra

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Friday, 19 April 2024 17:54

Written by Jack Angstreich

Juilliard Orchestra Conducted by David Robertson. Photo by Rachel Papo.

At Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium on the evening of Tuesday, April 2nd, I had the pleasure of attending an excellent concert of modernist French music presented by the remarkable Juilliard Orchestra under the superb direction of David Robertson.

The program began brilliantly with one of the highlights of the evening, a marvelous account of Lili Boulanger’s extraordinary, seldom performed Of a Spring Morning, a beautifully scored, Impressionistic work from 1918, impeccably conducted here by Tengku Irfan. Robertson then entered the stage to introduce the next piece, a set of five challenging but rewarding selections from Pierre Boulez’s infrequently heard Notations for Piano and Orchestra, featuring the precocious Joanne Chew-Anne Chang as soloist. Originally written for solo piano when the composer was twenty, he orchestrated it admirably decades later, at the invitation of conductor Daniel Barenboim. Robertson led the artists in the first, seventh, fourth, third and second of the Notations, in that order.

The second half of the event was at least equally as accomplished, starting with a sterling performance of Maurice Ravel’s engaging Piano Concerto in G Major from 1931, dazzlingly played by another outstanding soloist, the incredibly promising Jingting Zhu. The initial, energetic and virtuosic Allegramente movement, which has a sprightly opening, strongly recalls the music of George Gershwin—Ravel evidently was greatly impressed by the latter’s Concerto in F, although his own personality is nonetheless unmistakable; the slower passages have the quality of a moody reverie and it ends forcefully and precipitously. The Adagio assai that follows begins with an extended, introspective introduction for solo piano; the movement, which contains some of the score’s most exquisite music, sustains an inward character, with some lyrical moments, throughout its length. The  propulsive and percussive Presto finale, also concludes abruptly.

The event closed awesomely, first with a rare and very brief Ravel opus, Frontispice from 1918, one of the most avant-garde scores he ever composed. In it, according to the program note by Thomas May: 

The numbers three and five have a notable presence—the original score comprises 15 (3x5) measures and is designed for three pianists and five hands. In 2007, Pierre Boulez arranged this music for a large orchestra.

Without a pause, Robertson transitioned to a masterly rendition of Claude Debussy’s incomparable La mer from 1905. One can discern many pronouncedly Oriental echoes across the first movement, From Dawn to Noon on the Sea, which has some of the eccentricity to be found in the early works of Igor Stravinsky and which builds to a powerful climax. The succeeding Play of the Waves is more animated, even turbulent, but concludes softly, and the finale, Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea, is agitated and tumultuous and ends unforgettably.

The players were enthusiastically applauded.

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