Virtuosity and contrasts with Dueñas, Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony

Right on the heels of a win at the Grammys, Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony embarked on another recording project this weekend with their performances of a recent work by Carlos Simon and a mainstay by Antonin Dvořák being captured for future release. Carlos Simon’s Four Black American Dances was written on commission from the Boston Symphony in 2023. In his pre-performance remarks, Simon explained that the work endeavors to use dance to display the diversity within Black American communities.

Ring Shout is a slave dance, given here with enormous vigor conveyed through rhythmic intricacies and dense orchestration, even asking certain members of the orchestra to clap their hands. Waltz contrasted with the genteel world of the cotillion ball, a rare moment of subtlety in this extrovert work. Tap! sparkled with Jazz Age flamboyance and Holy Dance looked to the composer’s roots as the son of a preacher. One was struck by the virtuosity throughout, both in the orchestra’s playing and Simon’s ability to write for them.

Dvořák’s New World Symphony paired well with Simon’s work in the way it looked towards African American spirituals as inspiration for its thematic material. Under Honeck’s baton, the symphony’s introductory material was deftly paced, as if not to reveal too much ahead of the impassioned Allegro molto. Textures were clear and transparent, uncovering details and nuances in Dvořák’s orchestration that can get washed away in lesser hands. In more inward moments, matters retreated to the lyrical, marked by a dulcet flute solo.

A stirring brass chorale began the Largo, setting the stage for the delicately phrased English horn passage (Ian Woodworth). The Molto vivace that followed was perhaps more an acknowledgment of the composer's Czech homeland than an embracement of the American traditions that enamored him. Honeck offered an authentic Central European flavor with buoyant rhythms and a glittering sheen, capped off by a finale that resounded in brassy boisterousness.

As the centerpiece was Saint-Saëns’ Violin Concerto no. 3 in B minor, featuring 22-year-old violinist María Dueñas. She and Honeck have collaborated extensively, with him serving as conductor on her debut album Beethoven and Beyond. A broodingly lyrical theme began, displaying the violinist’s rich depth of tone and self-assured playing. The orchestra provided gracious accompaniment in congenial collaboration with the soloist.

The slow movement was an extended paragraph of graceful, serene beauty, upended by the finale which opened with a commanding solo flourish. In a connective thread to the pieces that bookended the concerto, it too made use of folk-driven material, given with sharp rhythmic inflections and Dueñas’ stylish technique. Triumphant brass heralded the work’s close, and an enthusiastic reception all but demanded an encore from the young violinist. Franz von Vecsey’s Valse triste was a touching choice, a piece concerned more with expression than virtuosity.