Sixteen years after her tenure as the orchestra’s Assistant and then Associate Conductor ended, Xian Zhang returned to the New York Philharmonic to lead a diverse program pairing two 19th-century works with a 21st-century tone poem by a Chinese-American composer.
The evening opened with Landscape Impression, Chen Yi’s 2023 single-movement piece inspired by two poems by 11th-century Chinese poet Su Shi. The verses – Landscape and The West Lake – present contrasting views of West Lake, a well-known scenic location in eastern China: one spotted by raindrops and an oncoming summer storm; the other sunnier, more serene. Composed entirely for Western instruments, Chen Yi’s score utilizes Su Shi’s imagery to create a musical landscape freely fluctuating between turbulence and tranquility. With decisive gestures and brisk tempi, Xian Zhang emphasized the work’s orchestral colors, producing a vivid, shimmering picture of the scene. Fast, flickering woodwinds suggested winds sweeping over the landscape while light raindrops bounced upon the surface of the water. Scattered percussion beats evoked heavier rainfall as the storm swept across the lake. A string melody, long and graceful, intensified until the piece culminated in a series of triumphant chords.
Next came Robert Schumann’s impassioned Piano Concerto in A minor. Soloist Yefim Bronfman, a longtime friend of the Philharmonic having appeared with the orchestra in more than 30 seasons since 1978, dispatched a commanding account. His symbiosis with Zhang was evident throughout. After the bold downward flourish of the opening, he invested the first movement Allegro affettuoso with a wonderfully flexible and romantic flamboyance, his virtuosity most evident in the monumental cadenza. The delicate intermezzo second movement, with gloriously elegant playing from both pianist and orchestra, preceded an exhilarating Allegro vivace finale. Altogether, Bronfman’s performance was magnificent – unexaggerated yet tremendously powerful in its transparency and sincerity. He offered a playful encore: a crisply articulated account of the Etude no. 2 in E flat major from Liszt’s Grandes études de Paganini.
The second half was taken up by Tchaikovsky’s Second Symphony, a work performed less often than his later symphonies. Due to its heavy reliance on Ukrainian folk tunes, it was for a long time known as the “Little Russian” – the term “Little Russia” being a 19th-century Tsarist designation for what is now modern-day Ukraine. In light of recent events, the nickname is now both outdated and problematic. The version performed for this concert was the composer’s 1879-80 revision. Despite its successful 1872 premiere, Tchaikovsky was initially dissatisfied and shortened the finale and re-shaped the first movement to be more compact.
Zhang and the Philharmonic players gave a characterful performance. Associate Principal Richard Deane’s French horn solo that opens the first movement – based on the folk tune Down by Mother Volga – had a moving, mournful quality, with the orchestra seamlessly handling the transition into the faster Allegro vivo section. In the charming march that serves as the second movement the woodwinds were perky and precise against the steady roll of the timpani. The high-energy Scherzo was sufficiently spirited without feeling rushed. Best of all was the finale. Based on the folk song The Crane, it is an opportunity for bravura display by the orchestra, especially the woodwinds. Cutting through the heavy brass at the climax, Mindy Kaufman’s piccolo playing contributed uninhibited sparkle to the movement’s toe-tapping variations dancing their way to a joyful conclusion.
