Late yesterday afternoon my wife and I decided to make a return visit to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) through its latest Live from Orchestra Hall Webcast. This provided our first encounter with visiting conductor Jonathon Heyward, currently Chief Conductor of the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie. This coming fall he will become the next Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, making him the first person of color to take the podium of that ensemble.
His DSO program followed the usual overture-concerto-symphony program. However, the concluding symphony offering was probably the most familiar. This was Antonín Dvořák’s Opus 88 (eighth) symphony in G major. This has become one of the composer’s most familiar symphonies, probably second only to its Opus 95 successor in E minor, popularly known as the “New World” symphony. Heyward clearly appreciated the richness of instrumental resources in the Opus 88 score; and he could not have been better assisted by the video direction, which did an impressive job of presenting camera shots that reflected where he was focusing his own attention. This made for a satisfying journey of discovery, even for many that probably thought that they were familiar the details of this music.
In contrast, the “overture” was Tania León’s “Pasajes,” which had been co-commissioned by the DSO. This noun denotes both the act of passage and, in a commercial connotation, the ticket that enables that passage. It would be fair to say that the title reflects a journey (passage) through the many resources that constitute a full symphony orchestra. Here, again, that semantic context was consistently reinforced by camera work that captured the peregrinations captured in León’s score. All this was delivered through an engagingly understated rhetoric, establishing the overall plan as one of suggestion, in contrast to the more denotational rhetoric of a composition such as Benjamin Britten’s Opus 34, “The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra.”
On the spectrum of familiarity, the concerto selection was situated comfortably between León’s “overture” and Dvořák’s symphony. Pianist Yeol Eum Son appeared as soloist in a performance of Felix Mendelssohn’s Opus 25 (first) piano concerto in G minor, which begins with a vigorous outburst of enthusiasm. Presumably, Mendelssohn wrote this concerto for his own performance of the piano part (possibly while conducting the orchestra at the same time); and he clearly was not interested in having the pianist wait for an extended introduction!
Screen shot from last night’s streamed performance
Fortunately, Son was more interested in serving as a good “team player” with Heyward and his ensemble. As can be seen in the above image, Heyward knew how to maintain the orchestra role in the performance, while consistently maintaining attention to Son’s interpretation of the solo part. The result was one of an engaging dialog between soloist and ensemble, recognizing that the whole was far more important than any individual part. From a technical point of view, Son breezed her way through the many intricacies of the composer’s marks on paper, while taking full advantage of the expressive rhetoric of the middle movement. (Mendelssohn conceived of this concerto as three movements played without any interruptions.)
Taken as a whole, this was a concerto presentation involving skilled expressiveness from all parties involved. The results could not have been more satisfying. However, a bit of information about Son’s encore selection would have been appreciated!
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