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Schumann and Schoenberg and Berg, Oh My! Miami
New World Center
01/26/2013 - & January 27*, 2013
Arnold Schoenberg: Theme and Variations, Opus 43b
Alban Berg: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra
Wilhelm Fitzenhagen: Concert Waltzes for four Cellos, Opus 31
Robert Schumann: Symphony No. 1 in B-flat major, Opus 38
Rainer Honeck (violin), Meredith McCook, Allie Thompson, Kevin Kunkle, Tamás Varga (cello)
New World Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas (conductor)
R. Honeck (Courtesy of NWS)
There is probably little question that when this program, “Viennese Artistry,” was announced, subscribers probably skipped over it in favor of others. I have been told that when Schoenberg and Berg are on a program in Austria and Germany, attendance even there is not what one expects compared to when the romantics are on the bill. Originally this program had also included Schoenberg's Cello Concerto, but that was replaced by the Fitzenhagen piece. I guess to Americans it might be like offering a program of Phillip Glass and John Adams as opposed to Aaron Copland and Samuel Barber.
This program got off to a great start with Schoenberg's Theme and Variations. The gently sad beginning of the trombones draws us in. It is not a long piece, maybe only eleven or twelve minutes, but there is not a dull moment. By the end it sort of comes across as a fanfare. It is amazing to consider that the composer would have thought of this rawness for an American high school band, but he probably needed the money and the general public became the beneficiary.
Berg's Violin Concerto can be called a program's fly in the ointment by many concert goers. And though I don't think that Rainer Honeck's interpretation is the one to win over many new admirers, his playing was remarkably lyrical, making the last three minutes some of the most tender in all of the concert repertoire. Here the orchestra's commitment is every bit as essential in the need to keep our attention. We are often downright shocked and strangely moved by the clarinets in the second movement as they seem to be offering a hymn. A steady diet of this stuff would undoubtedly increase the personal angst level of most people. But it is essential for the committed music lover to explore the composers of this period and note their influence. It is very easy to hear their impact on film and television though it is hard to consider it as “movie music.” The unforgiving despair of much of this work can leave one feeling unrelievedly depressed and exhausted, so it is only right to offer it just before an intermission. Imagine how a member of the audience responded had he or she been unaware of what was to be encountered. It is often said that this music is best if approached intellectually rather than emotionally. For musicians this may make sense, but to the general public it smacks of elitism regardless of the intention. Let's just hope that the uninitiated took what they could this time and made no apologies.
The second half of the program started with the unusual sight of four cellists: Meredith McCook, Allie Thompson and Kevin Kunkle with their leader Tamás Varga. Wilhelm Fitzenhagen is a composer probably not familiar to most of us; it was comforting to be given such a refreshing piece played so lovingly by Mr. Varga and the New World Fellows who have come to seem almost like family. The playing was direct, solid and full of the joyful youth exactly essential to Schumann's Symphony No. 1 which followed.
Mr. Tilson Thomas was back in control, and as with the Schoenberg and Berg, the orchestra was intensely though never cloyingly alive. There was the excitement of youth with no immaturity. The winds gave the essence of buoyancy that is so invigorating. And the strings, ever firm, had a lightness that gave of a feeling of joy bringing the program full circle. This may have been the best-rounded program I have ever experienced from this unique company.
Jeff Haller
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