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AT MOSTLY MOZART, A TOUSLE-HAIRED NEWCOMER JOINS A RETURNING HERO
By STEVE SMITH
Published: August 7, 2006
The notion of viewing Mozart from the vantage point of what followed
him - both in close proximity and at a farther remove - is a central
principle of this year's Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center.
The program presented by the guest conductor Osmo Vanska and the
festival orchestra at Avery Fisher Hall on Friday evening neatly
illustrated the concept, with a major work by Mozart preceded by
a modern homage and followed by a masterpiece by Beethoven, whose
revolutionary gestures were built on Mozart's foundation.
Mr. Vanska, whose debut in the festival last year was a star-making
event, was greeted as a returning hero. An exacting musician, he
quickly revealed a care for textural balance and a predilection for
extremes of dynamics in the Swiss composer Frank Martin's "Overture
in Homage to Mozart," a tart but genial Neo-Classical curtain-raiser
commissioned in 1956 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Mozart's
birth.
Taking advantage of the improved acoustics of the reconfigured Avery
Fisher Hall, Mr. Vanska established a subdued base-line dynamic.
Hushed pianissimos compelled listeners to lean in close, and accented
notes and louder passages leapt out in striking contrast.
Wielding his baton with an urgent sweep, Mr. Vanska propelled Mozart's
Symphony No. 35, the "Haffner," at a tempo that initially seemed too
driven to sustain. Fine details of articulation were occasionally lost
in the headlong surge of the Allegro con spirito; that the ensemble
never lost cohesion was a testimony to its marked improvement over
the last few seasons.
Violins that were divided left and right on the stage yielded
heightened clarity in the clockwork Andante. Mr. Vanska led a courtly
Menuetto free of expressive quirks, and spurred a breathless Presto
finale.
The Armenian violinist Sergey Khachatryan, a 21-year-old past champion
of the Jean Sibelius and Queen Elisabeth competitions, made his
New York debut in Beethoven's Violin Concerto, a work that expanded
Mozart's model of a virtuoso showcase into a forum for philosophical
rumination. Lanky and tousle-haired, Mr. Khachatryan projected intense
concentration in the first movement, his sweet tone and strikingly
introverted phrasing suggesting vulnerability and internal debate. He
shaped his lines fastidiously and executed them cleanly. Mr. Vanska,
departing from his previous metronomic precision, provided ideally
flexible accompaniment.
Clocking in at 26 minutes, the opening movement felt slightly prolonged
and episodic. Still, Mr. Khachatryan's rapt account of Fritz Kreisler's
cadenza was quietly dazzling, and his gentle sound against the muted
strings of the Larghetto was bewitching. The orchestra seemed to
breathe a collective sigh of relief when unleashed at last in a
buoyant Rondo, which elicited Mr. Khachatryan's most effusive playing.
The audience responded with a tumultuous ovation, and Mr. Khachatryan
rewarded those who lingered with the Largo from Bach's Unaccompanied
Sonata No. 3, broadly spun and richly expressive.
By STEVE SMITH
Published: August 7, 2006
The notion of viewing Mozart from the vantage point of what followed
him - both in close proximity and at a farther remove - is a central
principle of this year's Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center.
The program presented by the guest conductor Osmo Vanska and the
festival orchestra at Avery Fisher Hall on Friday evening neatly
illustrated the concept, with a major work by Mozart preceded by
a modern homage and followed by a masterpiece by Beethoven, whose
revolutionary gestures were built on Mozart's foundation.
Mr. Vanska, whose debut in the festival last year was a star-making
event, was greeted as a returning hero. An exacting musician, he
quickly revealed a care for textural balance and a predilection for
extremes of dynamics in the Swiss composer Frank Martin's "Overture
in Homage to Mozart," a tart but genial Neo-Classical curtain-raiser
commissioned in 1956 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Mozart's
birth.
Taking advantage of the improved acoustics of the reconfigured Avery
Fisher Hall, Mr. Vanska established a subdued base-line dynamic.
Hushed pianissimos compelled listeners to lean in close, and accented
notes and louder passages leapt out in striking contrast.
Wielding his baton with an urgent sweep, Mr. Vanska propelled Mozart's
Symphony No. 35, the "Haffner," at a tempo that initially seemed too
driven to sustain. Fine details of articulation were occasionally lost
in the headlong surge of the Allegro con spirito; that the ensemble
never lost cohesion was a testimony to its marked improvement over
the last few seasons.
Violins that were divided left and right on the stage yielded
heightened clarity in the clockwork Andante. Mr. Vanska led a courtly
Menuetto free of expressive quirks, and spurred a breathless Presto
finale.
The Armenian violinist Sergey Khachatryan, a 21-year-old past champion
of the Jean Sibelius and Queen Elisabeth competitions, made his
New York debut in Beethoven's Violin Concerto, a work that expanded
Mozart's model of a virtuoso showcase into a forum for philosophical
rumination. Lanky and tousle-haired, Mr. Khachatryan projected intense
concentration in the first movement, his sweet tone and strikingly
introverted phrasing suggesting vulnerability and internal debate. He
shaped his lines fastidiously and executed them cleanly. Mr. Vanska,
departing from his previous metronomic precision, provided ideally
flexible accompaniment.
Clocking in at 26 minutes, the opening movement felt slightly prolonged
and episodic. Still, Mr. Khachatryan's rapt account of Fritz Kreisler's
cadenza was quietly dazzling, and his gentle sound against the muted
strings of the Larghetto was bewitching. The orchestra seemed to
breathe a collective sigh of relief when unleashed at last in a
buoyant Rondo, which elicited Mr. Khachatryan's most effusive playing.
The audience responded with a tumultuous ovation, and Mr. Khachatryan
rewarded those who lingered with the Largo from Bach's Unaccompanied
Sonata No. 3, broadly spun and richly expressive.