DSO’s Mendelssohn-Schumann Connection

Jörg Widman on the DSO podium (screen shot from last night’s YouTube’s video feed of the performance)

Once again, dinner at home provided the setting for the latest live-streamed performance by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) yesterday evening. The title of the program was simply Mendelssohn and Schumann, the former providing the concerto and the latter concluding the evening with the symphony. The “overture” for the occasion was composed by the visiting conductor, Jörg Widman, a musical whirlwind entitled, appropriately enough, “Con brio.”

The concerto was, of course, Felix Mendelssohn’s Opus 64 in E minor. This was his mature effort, following up on an earlier (1822) concerto in D minor (which is almost never encountered in performance). The soloist was Robyn Bollinger, who usually occupies the Concertmaster’s chair. Mendelssohn composed no end of technical hoops to challenge the soloist, and Bollinger deftly sailed through all of them. Given her “day job,” her engagement with her colleagues could have not been better, as was her awareness and responsiveness to Widman’s conducting technique. As might be expected, the audience demanded an encore after Bollinger took her bows. Mendelssohn’s career included a strong commitment to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, so it was appropriate to select an encore from that composer’s repertoire. Bollinger’s choice could not have been more familiar, the opening “Preludio” movement to the third of the solo violin partitas (BWV 1006 in E major); and, once again, the crowd in the audience roared with approval.

The spirit of Mendelssohn lingered on after the intermission. He had conducted the premiere performance of Robert Schumann’s Opus 28, his first symphony given the title “Spring.” This has a relatively extended Andante un poco maestoso introduction, which came across as a bit shaky under Widmann’s baton. However, all was in order by the time the Allegro molto vivace got under way; and sailing through all four movements could not have been more enjoyable. On the other hand, the title of Widman’s composition was never quite captured in the performance and quickly overstayed its welcome.