The European continent met the British Isles at the San Diego Symphony, with compositions by Glinka and Korngold, culminating in Sir Edward Elgar’s ever-popular Enigma Variations. At the helm of this pleasurably diverse program was the formidable Edo de Waart, replacing an ailing Sir Neville Marriner. De Waart’s international reputation as maestro extraordinaire reaches from Europe to the US. Clearly the SDS musicians and audience alike welcomed his presence.
De Waart launched the evening with Glinka’s exhilarating overture to his seldom performed “magical” opera, Ruslan and Ludmilla. The entire five act opera is usually relegated to St Petersburg and the Bolshoi; the overture and Ratmir’s aria are two of the few extracts commonly heard elsewhere in the opera world. This does not detract from the overture’s ability to buoy up and delight audiences, and De Waart’s rendering with SDS was no exception. From the first exuberant notes, he showed complete command of the ensemble, whether in meticulous, precise beats with the baton or sweeping gestures with his arms. The music is particularly challenging for the strings, especially the violins, and the SDS fiddlers were exceedingly capable of executing the concerto-like passages with virtuosity and assurance. Clocking in at a scant five minutes, the work proved a brilliant opening strategy to light a fire under the eager audience.
Korngold’s Violin Concerto is as unfamiliar to most audiences as Glinka’s overture is recognizable. Nonetheless the piece has great appeal, especially the spirited final movement, whose virtuoso elements invariably delight the audience. Russian-born violinist Alina Pogostkina, whose youth belies her impressive background of appearances with a lengthy list of major orchestras and conductors worldwide, seemed perfectly comfortable with the work’s intricacies, and in fact tossed off many of the concerto’s most demanding passages with striking facility. No small burden for any violinist attempting this piece is Jascha Heifetz’s legendary association with it. Pogostkina seemed unfazed by this constraint. She impressed with her huge, vibrant sound in the first movement, created a magical atmosphere in the second movement, with its dreamlike moments reminiscent of Korngold’s sublime opera Die Tote Stadt, and positively exploded in the technical fireworks of the third movement with a stunning display of virtuosity that could only be described as electrifying. Even more impressive was the clarity she brought to her performance, delineating each passage distinctly and forcefully but never overstating, all with fiery spirit. She is a complete violinist in every sense of the word, a natural on the instrument, and left the audience wanting more. In fact they got what they wanted as an encore: a delightful rendering of one of Bartok’s Violin Duos, in collaboration with excellent guest concertmaster Frank Almond. The two violinists meshed perfectly and engagingly, as if performing for themselves, with immense pleasure.