Estonian conductor Kristiina Poska made her Toronto Symphony Orchestra debut on Wednesday evening. It was very much an evening of two parts with works by Arvo Pärt and Stewart Goodyear in the first half with Beethoven’s well known Eroica Symphony after the break.
Pärt’s Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten; scored for strings and a bell, is perhaps a bit of a paradox. It is only six minutes long but it contains a wealth of complexity; it’s a double canon in five parts restricted to the Aeolian mode but this technical wizard doesn’t really come across as such. The impression on the ear is more like listening to the ocean as the different string parts cross over each other like a pattern of waves. It’s all a bit hypnotic.
Next was Stewart Goodyear’s Callaloo, Caribbean Suite for Piano and Orchestra, with the composer as soloist. Callaloo is a spicy Caribbean stew and Goodyear’s piece is inspired by Carnival in Trinidad and celebrates the diversity of Caribbean culture with, predictably, an insanely virtuosic piano part thrown in for good measure.
It’s in five movements. The first, Panorama, features jazzy tunes, especially from the low brass, and dance rhythms coupled with crazy piano playing. Mento; scored for horns, strings and piano, riffs off Jamaican folk song. Afterglow is a lyrical, folksy, slow movement for low strings, piano, woodwinds and loads of percussion. It’s the most “relaxed” part of the piece. The fourth movement is a cadenza for solo piano which honestly made me think of one of those Looney Tunes cartoons where the piano bursts into flames. It’s followed without a pause by the final movement, Soca, inspired by the finale of Carnival. It’s loud. There’s a coda for a wide range of percussion before it explodes into a wild, even thrilling, finale. This was most enjoyable with Goodyear on great form and conductor and orchestra throwing themselves into this crazy stewpot with abandon.
After the break it was more sober fare with Beethoven’s Eroica. This is such a classic that it’s really difficult for a conductor to differentiate herself (at least in a good way). That said it was a highly competent and satisfying performance. The first two movements were precise, controlled and the details came out clearly (no small feat at Roy Thomson Hall). There was real gravitas in the Marcia funebre. The Scherzo was sprightly, light textured and brisk. There was really energy and some genuine excitement in the final Allegro molto. Good stuff, if not earth shattering.
So, a solid TSO debut for Poska, elevated by the effervescence and joy of Goodyear’s writing and playing.
