Mozart's creative burst in the summer of 1788 never ceases to astonish. Within a mere nine weeks – and despite facing a troubled period in his personal life – the 32-year-old composer produced a triptych of symphonies that have remained a pinnacle of the genre.
Each symphony inhabits a distinct world of its own. Two of these, the symphonies in G minor and C major, served as the pillars of guest conductor Andreas Delfs’ Seattle Symphony program, which attracted a large and enthusiastic audience. They framed a pair of trumpet concertos featuring the Norwegian virtuoso Tine Thing Helseth in her debut with the orchestra.
A tirelessly energetic figure on the podium, Delfs opened with Mozart’s Symphony np. 40 in G minor, K550, conducted from memory. He drew lithe, lean, but urgent playing from the Seattle Symphony, which was trimmed down to a chamber orchestra – in keeping with Classical era instrumentation. Delfs even got the players to sound close to a period-instrument ensemble.
Consistently brisk tempi (and omission of the repeats) underscored a sense of agitated despair in the G minor – made all the more intense by the understated playing of the opening measures. Though never hurried, the consoling light that enters with the Andante seemed tempered by an awareness of transience. It was blotted out by the fierce momentum of the Minuet, which Delfs rendered with manically staggered phrasing – a claustrophobic dance on the edge of oblivion. In the hyper-charged, tensile finale, a note of real terror emerged, the music evoking a mad chase, with the Furies in pursuit.
Delfs’ spirited account of the Jupiter, Mozart’s final symphony, evinced a similar flexibility and fleetness. If the outer movements lacked a chiseled grandeur and weight, there was much beauty in the transparency of lines, abetted by the crisp rhythmic articulation that Delfs made a priority.
Despite some unpolished blending between sections, the ensemble playing was exciting. Ben Lulich (clarinet), Jeffrey Fair (horn), and Jeffrey Barker (flute) contributed radiant solo moments. Eric Schweikert played 300-year-old timpani, adding a touch of Baroque thunder that was truly Olympian.
Along with two of Mozart’s greatest works for orchestra, the program showcased the engaging musical personality of Tine Thing Helseth. I have no idea how many times she’s played Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto in E flat major. It’s even become a meme that appears in the soundtrack of the dystopian series Squid Game. But Helseth managed to make it sound fresh and personal. Her versatility of phrasing and tonal variety – at times surprisingly delicate – brought new perspectives to the work Haydn wrote in 1796, five years after his friend Mozart had died. Delfs provided sensitive support.
Helseth also presented the US premiere of the Trumpet Concerto by the Danish composer Bent Sørensen, which he wrote for her in 2012-13 and which she has recorded with the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. Sørensen uses a classical orchestra of modest dimensions (with an additional piccolo, English horn and percussion), but he asks the players to do un-classical things, such as humming with closed mouths, rubbing their hands together, and pressing their bows hard against the strings.
Overall, his concerto challenges stereotypical notions of the trumpet’s sound. Rather than martial confidence or victorious fanfares, Helseth projected a fascinating range of characters, beginning with a curiously subdued entrance and including confidences intimately exchanged with players from the ensemble. References to Haydn, a jazzy improviser filtered through a Wow-Wow mute, and clocks ticking relentlessly – how to transcend time? – create a surreal atmosphere. Helseth led us through Sørensen’s mysterious, sometimes whimsical soundscape with the sureness of a great storyteller.
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