It was a combination of old and new creations at this program offered by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of its Music Director, JoAnn Falletta. The first half featured Latin American works, beginning with Ginastera's Estancia Ballet Suite. It’s an early work dating from 1943, and while the composer's style would soon evolve into a much more modernist idiom, the audience appeal of the ballet has made it arguably Ginastera's most popular work.
Falletta and the BPO players dug into the score, delivering a rousing performance that was terrifically exciting. The opening Trabajadores agricolas featured heavily accented driving brass that would return in the brash Peones de hacienda movement. The solo work of timpanist Matthew Bassett was particularly impressive in the latter. In between, the poignancy of the Danza del trigo included beautiful flute solo passages along with lush strings. In the final Malambo, Falletta built the tension with the increasingly agitated dueling gaucho dancers – screaming clarinets and all. At its climax, the eighth-note repeats brought the performance to an electrifying conclusion.
Following the Ginastera, BPO double bass players Daniel Pendley and Brett Shurtliffe were featured soloists in a new commissioned work by the Cuban-born American composer José Lezcano. Titled Concierto Hispanoamericano, the piece also features a solo harp (Madeleine Olson) and string orchestra. This tuneful concerto is in three contrasting movements, providing a fresh take on a variety of styles including flamenco, jazz syncopation and pop styles. The outer movements (En el Vadado and Homage a Tarragona) are filled with inventive rhythms in which the bass soloists are required to do their share of technical gymnastics, while the harp delivers a sort of obbligato commentary that is reminiscent of the plucking of guitar strings. It seemed in places as if the range was a bit of a stretch for the basses; perhaps scoring for cello in lieu of one of the basses might have been more effective.
The middle Bolero Contrabajeando movement was particularly effective, where the melodies really sang. The composer (who was in attendance) explains that the concerto is influenced by a range of musical idioms; this made for a piece that is super-accessible, yet doesn’t veer into imitation or cliché. All three soloists played admirably well in a piece that required a good amount of visual communication between them. At approximately 20 minutes long, this is an engaging work showcasing instruments that could be characterized as "underdogs" of the orchestra. On the strength of today's performance I can see this work attracting additional performances, helped in that it’s equally suited for orchestras and chamber-sized ensembles.
Following the intermission, Falletta and the BPO presented a stellar reading of Brahms' Fourth Symphony. While some of Brahms' earlier symphonies may have broader appeal on initial hearing – critic Eduard Hanslick declared that he felt like he'd “been beaten up by two intelligent people” after hearing it for the first time (he was to change his assessment later) – arguably in this symphony the composer achieved his greatest artistic triumph. It’s monumental in many respects, and yet in the most insightful performances the second movement Andante moderato is where the symphony attains its greatest grandeur.
Falletta’s interpretation was the best performance of the symphony that I’ve witnessed in concert for years. Technically flawless, the emotional arc of the symphony was beautifully constructed and the dynamic contrasts perfectly calibrated. And that second movement? It left me spellbound.
