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Posted by Claudio Lincari on March 04, 19104 at 08:48:17:
Philharmonia Orchestra "Anton Bruckner"
Alexander Frey, conductor
Villa Ambrogio, July 9
Program:
Arnold Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night)
****
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor
1. Trauermarsch. In Gemessenem Schritt. Streng. Wie Ein Kondukt
2. Sturmisch Bewegt. Mit Grosster Vehemenz
3. Scherzo. Kraftig, Nicht Zu Schnell
4. Adagietto. Sehr Langsam
5. Rondo-Finale. Allegro - Allegro Giocoso. Frisch
The Philharmonia Orchestra "Anton Bruckner" made an appearance under the baton of Alexander Frey who has been guest conducting the orchestra this season, and featured two major works from turn-of-the-century Vienna on the second concert of the summer series.
I arrived wondering how many people would come to this performance, a program consisting of a pair of large pieces that are, for the most part, rather dark and heavy, and was pleasantly surprised to see the place full. And we were all rewarded with a truly great concert.
Frey conducted this performance completely from memory with a perfect balance of both precision and freedom.
The concert began with Arnold Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night), a large, sprawling tone-poem for string orchestra. The work is from Schoenberg’s early period before the composer turned to writing twelve-tone music and experimenting with atonality. This piece is divided into several sections, but Frey conducted it with a beautiful sense of pacing that held the piece together. The complete string section of the Philharmonia played with great, rich tone, intense vibrato and ripe lyricism. There was widespread use of portamenti and great dynamic contrast that I have not heard before in other performances of this work. Inner voices were brought out of the texture and given lives of their own. Some of the extroverted harmonic sequences were made even more prominent by a pulling back of tempo and then a strong accent before resuming the tempi. These things obviously reflected Frey’s interpretation, and were very effective-in fact, extremely moving, though sometimes they made the piece almost sound like a Hollywood film score. Frey has a solid reputation for finding new fresh ways to perform pieces of the standard repertoire, and he is known for delving into the details of the score and highlighting them in a completely compelling and convincing style. That was very evident in this performance. It was clear that he was absolutely intent on wringing every drop of emotion in this work.. The Philharmonia string section and their conductor gave an extremely moving performance of Schoenberg’s great tone poem-very focused and concentrated.
The first half of the concert was only around a half hour long. However, due to the heavy nature of the Schoenberg, and because the setup of the stage had to change from one for the string section to that of a large complete orchestra, a formal intermission occurred between the two works on this program. And after such an expansive, full performance of the Schoenberg, it was necessary for both musicians and audience to take a break and refresh ourselves for the next part.
It is evident that Alexander Frey is a born Mahler conductor. He walked back on the stage to lead the Philharmonia in an overwhelmingly powerful performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 5.
Each movement of this work is a piece in itself. The first movement is a funeral march, somber and serious. Frey and the orchestra were successful in imparting this feeling, but they also gave it a sense of Viennese lilt that served in contrast to the dramatic explosion of the second movement which contains many contrasting moods. The third movement, which introduces a segment of the choral which is found at the end of the symphony, was played with incredible color and phrasing by the orchestra’s excellent instrumentalists. Solo instrumental lines were played with a sense of freedom. The pacing also at times projected a feeling of a sad Viennese waltz. It was lovely, and I found it very interesting that rather than trying to blend the different moods of this movement, Frey actually accentuated the contrasts. It was very effective and fresh.
The fourth movement is the famous Adagietto for strings and harp, once again showing off the Philharmonia’s excellent string section. Frey has been known to experiment with unusual seating plans for an orchestra depending on what he has felt are the sonic requirements of a given work. In this piece, he had a harpist situated right in the middle of the string section for the entire symphony, between the viola and cello sections. I’ve never seen that done before, but it was very effective. The harp is an integral part of this movement, and it was a new pleasure to hear that instrument grow directly out of the sound of the strings. They played it with a beautiful lushness, the inner voices coming out of the texture in a most organic way, and Frey knew exactly the right moments to relax the tempi and then push ahead. The movement did not bog down, but breathed in just the right way. It was an extremely sensual performance, and the final climax of the movement followed by the fading of the last chord into silence were breathtaking.
This was followed a little pause to collect ourselves before the opening horn call of the last movement. It was performed with a great sense of evolving colours, a sense of urgency and tension which lead in a powerful way to the unfolding of the great chorale that ends this work. One had the feeling of musical fireworks exploding in the sky.
This was a magical evening in every way-a fantastic concert of gorgeous music given in a performance that was great, powerful, emotional and thought-provoking.