Back in Carnegie Hall for the first time since their 1987 concert led by James Conlon, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of the Chief Conductor Lahav Shani, offered a diverse program by three popular composers spanning three centuries.
The evening opened on a serene note with Arvo Pärt’s Swansong (2013). A brief, meditative work, originally composed for choir and organ and alternately known as Littlemore Tractus, it was inspired by the final lines of a prayer for “a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at last” by 19th-century British theologian John Henry Newman. Like much of the composer’s oeuvre, it is strong on reverence. Opening with darkly colored winds over pizzicato strings, it unfolds into a hymn-like melody that swells to a joyful climax and then slowly melts away until a softly plucked harp and a single ping from a triangle bring the music to an ethereal end. Shani elicited an alluring account of this soul-searching piece, endowing its long, soaring harmonies with a profound sense of longing.
Daniil Trifonov joined the orchestra for Mozart’s Piano Concerto no. 9 in E flat major, the composer’s first published opus in the genre and one which some consider his first masterpiece. The selection was unusual inasmuch as one more readily associates Trifonov with bolder, more bravura compositions – by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Liszt and the like – but he gave Mozart's concerto nothing less than a first class virtuosic treatment in an interpretation replete with vitality and feeling. His crisply articulated runs sparkled along the keyboard in the Allegro first movement, matched by the expressive depth in the poetic and poised central Andantino, followed by a brisk and joyful Presto finale. This was a stylish, lovely performance, enhanced by alert and supportive accompaniment from the orchestra under Shani, in particular the winds. Trifonov offered a poignant and delicately shaped encore: Bill Evans’ arrangement of Victor Young’s When I Fall in Love.
After the sparely orchestrated Mozart, all of the Rotterdam Phil's nearly 100 musicians took the stage for a 55-minute suite comprised of Shani’s own selection of excerpts from Prokofiev’s epic and enduring ballet Romeo and Juliet. This was a grand and intensely romantic rendering, effectively summarizing the narrative in ten vibrant scenes. Conducting from memory, Shani elicited highly atmospheric playing and virtuosity from the Rotterdam players. The emphatic rhythms of the more vigorous dances contrasted effectively with the delicacy of the gentler, more romantic passages. After a ferocious Montagues and Capulets opening, the light, gracefully articulated portrait of Juliet as a Young Girl was totally captivating. Later, the frenetic Death of Tybalt erupted with energy before the wonderfully picaresque Dance of the Girls from the Antilles. But the indisputable highlight was the Balcony Scene, where its glorious sequence of long-breathed, impassioned melodies received an especially ravishing response from Shani and the orchestra, especially the strings. The evening came to an exhilarating end with more Prokofiev: a rousing rendition of his Op.99 March.
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