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Resounding Memories, Old and New Houston
Jones Hall
09/16/2011 - and September 17, 18*, 2011
Pierre Jalbert: Shades of Memory
Johannes Brahms: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77
Antonín Dvorák: Symphony No. 6 in D Major, Op. 60
James Ehnes (violin)
Houston Symphony, Hans Graf (conductor) 
J. Ehnes (© Benjamin Ealovega)
The unmistakable air of occasion imbued the Houston Symphony's recent outing, with an impressive world premiere memorializing 9/11 and two works celebrating Bohemian musical influences.
Pierre Jalbert spoke from the stage before the premiere of his Shades of Memory, discussing both the structure of the work and the emotional current that made its creation so difficult. The piece is an arch, framed at its beginning and end by Gregorian chant, and effectively transfiguring a dark, lamenting mood into a warm, hopeful one. The most effective passages are these outer frames, with antiphonal chimes intoning ancient melodies layered with lush, Barber-esque string chorales and hazy woodwind and harp gestures floating downwards. The atmosphere is timeless. The faster middle section, where Jalbert says "we build a monument" is impressively brassy and powerful. Graf and the orchestra played beautifully, and the piece was well-received by the audience even if their response was tempered by the expected reverential reserve.
James Ehnes, so stunning two seasons ago in Barber, returned with the Brahms Concerto, and stunned again. This was a superbly conceived reading of this warhorse from both violinist and conductor. The opening movement was measured, but monuments continued to be built, and the rush to Ehnes' skyrocketing, virile first entry set the tone for the remainder of the performance. Graf allowed bold brass playing in the outer movements, which added excellent punch to the piece. Ehnes, masterfully negotiating the "more difficult than showy" passagework in the first movement, highlighted dynamic contrasts and rubato, almost to the point of becoming predictable in the louder-faster and softer-slower pairings.
The second movement, taken a tick quicker than typical, opened with a solid woodwind chorale, and here Ehnes wore his heart on his sleeve. This movement can be tedious in the wrong hands, but tonight it was heart-wrenching. Line after line of gorgeous tone poured from the violin, and the orchestra provided sensitive, rhythmically secure support.
The bucolic aspects of the finale were played up, especially by Graf, who coaxed giddy woodwind trills and assertive brass punctuations from his players. Ehnes responded with delightfully emphasized cross-rhythms, the right amount of rhythmic freedom in the main theme, and wispy passagework in the stratosphere. This was a fully satisfying account on all fronts, and the audience was given an extra treat as Ehnes encored his encore from last season's Barber performance - a technically stunning 16th Caprice from Paganini, a natural fit with the Brahms. Ehnes lustily emphasized the caprices jaunty cross rhythms and brought the crowd to its feet.
Programming around one of Brhams' concertos is tricky. They fulfill the audience's need for both a structural, heftig symphonic work and a flashy, virtuoso vehicle. The choice of Dvorák's sixth essay in the symphonic genre, which doesn't quite achieve the miracles that his final trifecta does, seemed a bit like overkill. Perhaps it was that the first half of this concert was so emotionally satisfying. Perhaps it was too much D major. Perhaps, but less likely, it was the performance of the Dvorák. The full-throttle brass playing was, without a doubt, thrilling, but it created a lack of overall architecture in the work. Every climax was enormous, and the result was a skyline of high-rises of equal height and shape. Again, echoes of the Brahms and Paganini were played up in the rousing "Furiant," but, after the numerous potential endings that Dvorák composes into the finale, the mind and ear were spent long before the true final cadence was reached.
Marcus Karl Maroney
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