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CONCERTOS AS SOUNDS OF SPRING
New York Times
May 9 2014
Young Concert Artists, which has been fostering the careers of gifted
musicians since 1961, mostly presents the winners of its auditions in
recitals, including a popular series in New York. But it has become
a spring tradition for this essential organization to present a
gala concert featuring select winners from recent years in concerto
performances. Hearing young musicians in concertos reveals further
dimensions of their artistry.
So it was on Wednesday night at Alice Tully Hall for the 53rd Young
Concert Artists Gala Concert, hosted by the organization's founding
director, Susan Wadsworth. With Carlos Miguel Prieto conducting the
Orchestra of St. Luke's, three impressive young musicians played
concertos by Copland, Barber and Rachmaninoff.
Narek Arutyunian, an Armenian-born clarinetist currently studying at
the Juilliard School, opened the program with an alluring, stylish
account of Copland's compact, two-movement Clarinet Concerto, a 1948
work commissioned by Benny Goodman. Mr. Arutyunian brought a rich,
reedy sound to the beguiling first movement, marked "slowly and
expressively," which has the quality of a mellow, almost lazy waltz.
He brought out pensive, subtle depths in the music while shaping the
winding melodic line in arching phrases. And he excelled in the jazzy,
playful second movement, which is like a 1940s American version of
Stravinsky's Neo-Classicism, impishly dispatching riffs and bopping
lines while incisively executing the music's rhythmic gyrations and
irregularities.
The Taiwanese-American violinist Paul Huang, a boyish-looking 23,
gave a masterly account of Barber's Violin Concerto. His warm, glowing
sound and youthful energy were perfect for the opening movement of
this justly popular work, in which a soaring melodic line flows atop
the harmonically charged, restless orchestra. Yet, Mr. Huang was also
alert to surprising melodic shifts and rhythmic twists in the violin
part. There was nobility and wistful longing to the searching slow
movement. In the fiercely difficult perpetual-motion finale, Mr.
Huang, supported by Mr. Prieto and the orchestra, reined in the
breathless tempo just enough to bring clarity and bite to constant
streams of notes in the violin part, which actually made the music seem
more dangerous and exciting. Mr. Huang was given a rousing ovation.
After intermission, Andrew Tyson, a pianist in the artist
diploma program at Juilliard, gave a coolly commanding account of
Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2. Rather than just tossing off the
scurrying passagework and virtuosic flights, he dug into the music,
bringing out thematic intricacies, making the notes matter. There
are several beloved big-tune moments in this popular concerto, and Mr.
Tyson played them with pliant Romantic expressivity. But his use of
rubato was tasteful and his playing refreshingly direct.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/09/arts/music/three-rising-stars-perform-in-young-concert-artists-gala.html?_r=0
From: A. Papazian
New York Times
May 9 2014
Young Concert Artists, which has been fostering the careers of gifted
musicians since 1961, mostly presents the winners of its auditions in
recitals, including a popular series in New York. But it has become
a spring tradition for this essential organization to present a
gala concert featuring select winners from recent years in concerto
performances. Hearing young musicians in concertos reveals further
dimensions of their artistry.
So it was on Wednesday night at Alice Tully Hall for the 53rd Young
Concert Artists Gala Concert, hosted by the organization's founding
director, Susan Wadsworth. With Carlos Miguel Prieto conducting the
Orchestra of St. Luke's, three impressive young musicians played
concertos by Copland, Barber and Rachmaninoff.
Narek Arutyunian, an Armenian-born clarinetist currently studying at
the Juilliard School, opened the program with an alluring, stylish
account of Copland's compact, two-movement Clarinet Concerto, a 1948
work commissioned by Benny Goodman. Mr. Arutyunian brought a rich,
reedy sound to the beguiling first movement, marked "slowly and
expressively," which has the quality of a mellow, almost lazy waltz.
He brought out pensive, subtle depths in the music while shaping the
winding melodic line in arching phrases. And he excelled in the jazzy,
playful second movement, which is like a 1940s American version of
Stravinsky's Neo-Classicism, impishly dispatching riffs and bopping
lines while incisively executing the music's rhythmic gyrations and
irregularities.
The Taiwanese-American violinist Paul Huang, a boyish-looking 23,
gave a masterly account of Barber's Violin Concerto. His warm, glowing
sound and youthful energy were perfect for the opening movement of
this justly popular work, in which a soaring melodic line flows atop
the harmonically charged, restless orchestra. Yet, Mr. Huang was also
alert to surprising melodic shifts and rhythmic twists in the violin
part. There was nobility and wistful longing to the searching slow
movement. In the fiercely difficult perpetual-motion finale, Mr.
Huang, supported by Mr. Prieto and the orchestra, reined in the
breathless tempo just enough to bring clarity and bite to constant
streams of notes in the violin part, which actually made the music seem
more dangerous and exciting. Mr. Huang was given a rousing ovation.
After intermission, Andrew Tyson, a pianist in the artist
diploma program at Juilliard, gave a coolly commanding account of
Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2. Rather than just tossing off the
scurrying passagework and virtuosic flights, he dug into the music,
bringing out thematic intricacies, making the notes matter. There
are several beloved big-tune moments in this popular concerto, and Mr.
Tyson played them with pliant Romantic expressivity. But his use of
rubato was tasteful and his playing refreshingly direct.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/09/arts/music/three-rising-stars-perform-in-young-concert-artists-gala.html?_r=0
From: A. Papazian