Taiwan Philharmonic Performs at Lincoln Center

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Tuesday, 23 May 2023 14:43

Written by Jack Angstreich

Photo by Tey Tat Keng

At David Geffen Hall on the evening of Friday, April 21st, I had the pleasure of attending a wonderful concert—which was presented by the New York Philharmonic—featuring the admirable musicians of the Taiwan Philharmonic, The National Symphony Orchestra, under the estimable direction of Jun Märkl.

The program began promisingly with a thrilling rendition of contemporary Taiwanese composer Ke-Chia Chen’s compelling—indeed exciting and dramatic—and impressively orchestrated Ebbs and Flows, heard here in its New York premiere. Chen said the following about the work:

While composing Ebbs and Flows for the Taiwan Philharmonic’s 2023 United States tour, led by Maestro Jun Märkl, I kept asking myself one question: what theme speaks to people around the world and to the people of Taiwan? Growing up in Taiwan, an island nation surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, and now living in the United States, with the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean bordering its coasts, the beauty and wonder of the ocean came to the fore.

The massive ocean provides, inspires, and sustains. Seeing waves crash against the white sands of a beach or a rocky shore is a spectacular sight to behold. It makes one think of its enormous strength as it cycles endlessly. When humans come into the scene and harness this massive force through marine transport, exploration, and fisheries, to name a few, its wonder comes even more into focus.

I conceived Ebbs and Flows with this mind, casting the orchestra as a massive body of water, like the ocean. I utilized different sound sources from the orchestra to depict the ocean’s wonders and treasures. Furthermore, like a symphonic documentary, it tells stories of people’s lives — fishermen, sailors, and seamen — stories that have been passed down among families and cultures from generation to generation.

The ocean ebbs and flows throughout the Earth and throughout human history, at times peaceful and calm and other times an uncontrollable raging force. This composition, in its development, reflects the ebbs and flows of both the ocean and our humanity. The water nurtures the world; the music feeds a wandering soul! The piece is co-commissioned by the Taiwan Philharmonic, Washington Performing Arts, and Muzik3 Foundation, Inc.

She entered the stage to receive the audience’s acclaim.

The remarkable soloist, Paul Huang, then joined the musicians for an accomplished performance of Max Bruch’s enjoyable Scottish Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra. The Prelude to the first movement is passionate and Romantic while its main body—marked Adagio cantabile—is even more lyrical. In the lively Allegro that follows, the folk element is even more pronounced, while the Andante sostenuto is more directly expressive, even sentimental, and the Finale is rousing, but with more inward passages. The violinist rewarded the audience’s enthusiastic applause with a dazzlingly virtuosic encore: John Corigliano’s The Red Violin Caprices.

The second half of the program was even better, opening with an excellent account of Felix Mendelssohn’s magnificent The Hebrides Overture. Equally successful, was a laudable reading of Claude Debussy’s astonishing La Mer. In the first movement, titled “From Dawn till Noon on the Sea,” one can especially discern the influence of East Asian music; it closes majestically. The ensuing “The Play of the Waves” is more suspenseful and propulsive, and the closing movement, “Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea,” is the most dynamic and turbulent of the three. The artists garnered a standing ovation which elicited another delightful encore: The Angel from Formosa by the modern Taiwanese composer, Tyzen Hsiao. One hopes that these fine musicians will return to the New York stages before long.

Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra Presents a Musical Epic

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Friday, 19 May 2023 13:41

Written by Jack Angstreich

Susanna Mälkki directs the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. Photo by Chris Lee.

At Carnegie Hall, on the evening of Tuesday, May 9th, I was provided the exceptional privilege of attending a superb concert featuring music by Finnish composers and performed by the splendid musicians of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, under the sterling direction of Susanna Mälkki, one of the most impressive contemporary conductors.

The program began auspiciously with a luminous reading of Jean Sibelius’s too infrequently heard tone poem, the beautiful Lemminkäinen’s Return from theLemminkäinen Suite,after tales from the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic. The celebrated flautist, Claire Chase, who is known for her commitment to avant-garde currents in new music, then joined the ensemble as soloist for an admirable account of Kaija Saariaho’s striking Aile du Songe, a mysterious work notable for its meticulous orchestral writing. According to the program note by Jaani Länsiö, the piece is “a joint commission from the Flanders Festival Ghent, London Philharmonic Orchestra, and Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra for flutist Camilla Hoitenga” and “based on the collection Oiseaux by French Nobel Prize–winning poet Saint-John Perse.”

The second half of the event was even more memorable, mainly for a brilliant realization of Sibelius’s incomparable Symphony No. 2, the premiere of which he conducted with this orchestra in 1902 and which it has played more than any other work. The somewhat charming opening of the initial Allegretto conceals grander ambitions that rapidly emerge as the movement acquires a more portentous and emotional cast. The ensuing slow movement—marked Tempo andante, ma rubato—is also suspenseful and becomes even more Romantic in inspiration, while the Vivacissimo third movement, although dramatic and turbulent, nonetheless functions as a scherzo. Thefinaleis ultimately the most joyous of the movements, although it contains more subdued and enigmatic passages, building to a stunning, affirmative conclusion. Enthusiastic applause elicited two fabulous encores written by the same composer: the Valse triste--one of his most exquisite creations—and the exhilarating Finlandia.

Boston Symphony Orchestra Presents the Cello at Its Finest

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Thursday, 18 May 2023 15:13

Written by Jack Angstreich

Boston Symphony Orchestra photo by Fadi Kheir

At Carnegie Hall, on the evenings of Monday and Tuesday, April 24th and 25th, I had the pleasure of attending two outstanding concerts presented by the excellent Boston Symphony Orchestra under the distinguished direction of Andris Nelsons.

The first program opened splendidly with a superb reading of Maurice Ravel’s exquisite Alborada del gracioso. The celebrated soloist, Gautier Capuçon, then entered the stage for an admirable performance of the New York premiere of Thierry Escaich’s compelling, impressively scored Les chants de l’aube for Cello and Orchestra, which was composed this year on a co-commission from the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and this ensemble (who have “an ongoing partnership”). Robert Kirzinger, in his note for the program, reports that:

With his new cello concerto, Escaich now has an association with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) as both composer and performer: He made his BSO debut as an organist in January 2020, performing Francis Poulenc’s Concerto for Organ, Timpani, and Strings under Alain Altinoglu’s direction at Symphony Hall.

And:

He wrote his concerto for violin, cello, and orchestra Miroir d’ombres for the brothers Renaud (violin) and Gautier (cello) Capuçon, who premiered the piece with Orchestre national de Lille in Belgium in 2006. That concerto led to commissions for solo concertos for both Renaud and Gautier, both of whom Escaich has known for many years through the Paris Conservatoire. The concerto for Renaud was written first but will receive its premiere in 2024.

The second half of the event was at least equally remarkable, a marvelous account of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s extraordinary Symphony No. 2. The initial movement’s introductory Largo conveys a longing that intensifies in the powerful Allegro moderato that constitutes its main body. The ensuing Allegro molto is exciting—indeed, at times even manic—although with more measured, moody, song-like passages, and ends quietly. The unabashedly lyrical Adagio is rapturously beautiful, a summit of musical Romanticism and the more variegated finale—marked Allegro vivace—is dynamic, even rambunctious.

The following evening’s concert was as memorable, beginning with a sterling rendition of the lovely, rarely heard Luonnotar of Jean Sibelius, featuring the wonderful soprano, Golda Schultz. Renowned soloist Anne-Sophie Mutter then joined the artists for a fine realization of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s charming, too infrequently played Violin Concerto No. 1. The opening Allegro moderato is effervescent but with serious moments while the Adagio possesses the elevated quality so characteristic of the composer’s enchanting slow movements and the concludingPrestois exultant and propulsive.

The closing half of the event was also brilliant. The violinist returned for a luminous version of the New York premiere of Thomas Adès’s striking Air (Homage to Sibelius), co-commissioned by Roche (as part of Roche Commissions for Lucerne Festival), Mutter, Carnegie Hall and this ensemble. About the work the composer has written that it is:

...actually an enormous canon or a series of canons at the 10th. They rise and at the same time descend, so that with so many modulations you end up arriving again at the point where you started, but transformed into something else. Anne-Sophie’s part is the freest agent within this mix.

The highlight of the concert, however, was a magnificent iteration of Sibelius’s stunning Symphony No. 5. The evocative and mysterious first movement has moments of austere grandeur, building to a thrilling finish and the succeeding Andante mosso, quasi allegretto is dance-like in rhythm and faintly pastoral in character. The finale opens suspensefully and soars majestically; after an enigmatic section the music slowly moves to an astonishing climax.

The artists were enthusiastically applauded on both nights.