New York Philharmonic Turn on the "Devil's Radio" at Lincoln Center

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Monday, 06 October 2025 13:59

Written by Jack Angstreich

Photo by Chris Lee

At Lincoln Center’s excellent David Geffen Hall, on the night of Saturday, September 27th, I had the pleasure to attend a fine concert presented by the New York Philharmonic under the distinguished direction of conductor David Robertson, here replacing Marta Gadolińska who had to withdraw on account of illness.

The event began auspiciously with the beautifully realized New York premiere of the engaging Devil’s Radio from 2014 by Mason Bates—who was present to receive the audience’s acclaim—the title of which, according to the note on the program, references an old Southern phrase, “Rumor is the Devil’s radio.” In his score for the work, the composer includes the following comment on the piece:

Sometimes the music is coldly propulsive, as at the opening, which uses a kind of sparkling “musical lure” in the upper woodwinds. But this is soon undercut by a bluesy bass line and energetic percussion, ultimately building into a soaring melody that's best described as vainglorious. Indeed, the work has ample brightness to counter its dark corners, and in this way it can be heard as a fanfare our villain might write for himself, complete with grandiose flourishes and an infectious swing section. But this lightness quickly evaporates in the work's final minutes, when thunderous hits in the low brass suggest a Goliath-sized figure throwing his weight around. He bows out with a wink and nod, ever the gentleman.

A remarkable soloist, Leila Josefowicz—who wore a flamboyant, elaborate, dark gown—then entered the stage for an admirable version of Karol Szymanowski’s imposing, undervalued Concerto No. 2 for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 61, which was finished in 1933. The work begins, with a tempo of Moderato molto tranquillo, almost lugubriously, eventually becoming more agitated, although with more reflective passages. A solemn, protracted cadenza—composed and credited to Paweł Kochański, the violinist that premiered the piece and who is its dedicatee—precedes more music of a high seriousness before the composition turns more sprightly as well as lyrical and impassioned, then rising to a powerful climax and closing triumphantly. Enthusiastic applause elicited an impressive, even dazzling, encore from the soloist: an excerpt from Lachen verlernt by Finnish composer Esa-Pekka Salonen, who will be conducting this ensemble in several performances during the following two weeks.

The second half of the evening was comparable in merit: an accomplished reading of Witold Lutosławski’s striking, too seldom played Concerto for Orchestra, that was completed in 1954. (The piece is especially reminiscent of the music of Igor Stravinsky and Béla Bartók.) The initial, Allegro maestoso movement, titled Intrada, starts portentously, sustaining a sense of dramatic tension across most of its length, until an extended, quiet episode. The ensuing Capriccio notturno e arioso movement, marked Vivace, is more playful, even insistently so, with a somber, commanding, even ominous Trio; it concludes softly. The weighty finale—Passacaglia, toccata e corale—is often turbulent but again with subdued, as well as ludic, interludes; it intensifies before ending forcefully and suddenly.

The artists deservedly received a standing ovation.

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