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Been There; Done That New York
Carnegie Hall
11/06/2000 -
Bela Bartok: Portrait # 1
Lorin Maazel: Music for Violin and Orchestra
Fritz Kreisler (arr. Maazel): Gypsy Capriccio
Gustav Mahler: Symphony # 1
Bavarian Radio Symphony
Lorin Maazel (violin and conductor)
As a young man in Berlin, George Szell made a very impressive triple debut, appearing with the Philharmonic as composer, pianist and conductor. Later molding the Cleveland Orchestra in his own image, Szell became one of the very greatest conductors of the 20th century. Following him into Cleveland was Lorin Maazel, who duplicated his predecessor's feat last evening, appearing as violin soloist and conductor (with a little help from former Bavarian violinist Wolfgang Gieron) in his own composition for the Bavarian Radio Symphony. Maestro did spend some time in the violin section in Pittsburgh as a teenager but it has been 50 years since he has played his instrument in concert. Not satisfied to be a John Gabriel Borkman, Maazel is looking for new challenges at this stage of his career, even scheduling his Carnegie Hall recital debut later this season.
The music of another conductor who dabbled in composition was the featured work of the evening. Maazel has a reputation as a maverick Mahler conductor and his exploration of this repertoire at glacial tempi caused quite a stir about seven years ago. Now back in the fold, he conducted a mostly splendid performance of the First with this remarkable ensemble. The first movement was a marvel of inner voices, particularly in the crisp wind section which he has developed over the past few seasons (Maazel is most likely also responsible for the fine wind playing in Pittsburgh). The clarity of balance between brass and strings was of a quality seldom heard outside of the recording studio. Digging in ferociously to the second movement, the Bavarians produced a biting lilt to their dance music, guided by a secure Jewish hand (it is no coincidence that the greatest Mahler conductors of the recording age are Walter and Bernstein) unafraid to emphasize the popular rhythm of the shtetl. Even though the opening solo of the third movement was flubbed by the principal bassist, the orchestra made a quick recovery and unveiled a cartoon tableau worthy of Callot's visual phantasmagoria. Up to this point, this was a terrific performance.
But the micromanaging of Maazel began to grate on me in the Finale. There was a distinct loss of focus and proper intonation in this movement and the constant tweaking of the tempi and exaggerated dramatic pauses left one with the impression that this was all just a tad too precious. Thinking it better to let Mahler determine when to take a moment, upon reflection this performance was much more about Maazel than the original composer (perhaps fitting mistreatment for the former music director of the Vienna Opera who regularly inserted arias from other productions into the sacred texts of Mozart and others just to show off the talents of his favorite singers). This last section degenerated into many dissonant chords, the all-important horns, who were allowed to stand for their final calls (pinch me!), woefully out of lip and sliding around their notes quite shamefully. Still, the reading as a whole was exciting and captured the spirit of the man who ruled this very stage for his brief, shining time in America.
The first half of the program was devoted to the considerable violinistic talents of this ageless wunderkind. His is a huge and very warm sound, quite impressive in the bleeding chunk of Bartok. It seemed odd to play the first of the Two Portraits without the other, but perhaps Maazel was substituting his own composition for this second part. After all, Bartok described the original pair as "one beautiful, one grotesque" and the interminable Op.12 of Maazel could certainly fit the bill. There ought to be a ban on the use of percussion by contemporary composers, as this otherwise fine musician degenerated into pulling out all of the stops in the battery to the detriment of any sound musical values. The crowd was visibly and audibly bored by this cacophony and began to talk among themselves. Some even left before the Mahler and this was a shame. It is exciting for the Maestro to be branching out into other more challenging areas of personal development and I sincerely applaud him for it. Fortunately, he has not quit his day job.
Frederick L. Kirshnit
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