Three concertos highlight the "Philadelphia sound."
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| Conductor Charles Dutoit. |
Mention the Philadelphia Orchestra to a music lover in the ast two years and their first thought may be "bankruptcy." The fiscally troubled orchestra did file Chapter 11 in 2011. But as Thursday night's Carnegie Hall appearance proved, high artistic standards are still the norm for the orchestra from Broad Street.
Charles Dutoit has served the Orchestra as Chief Conductor since the tumultuous 2008 exit of Christoph Eschenbach. (He will become an Emeritus next season, making way for the incoming music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin.) This concert allowed he Swiss conductor showed his experience and skill in three diverse concertos from three different composers.
The concert opened with the cerebral Concerto for Seven Wind Instruments by Frank Martin. This 1949 piece by an under-played, underrated Swiss composer evokes Ravel in its complex orchestral fabric. Martin's work looks back to the Baroque and the idea of the concerto grosso, allowing each soloist to display their instrumental skills before breaking into small groups and engaging in a joyful, dancing finale.
