Concert Review: Vocation or Avocation?

Esa-Pekka Salonen brings back his Cello Concerto.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

And usually just a t-shirt: Esa-Pekka Salonen.
Photo by Laurie Lewis.

In recent years, Esa-Pekka Salonen declared himself to be more interested in composition than the daily drudgeries of running a major symphony orchestra. However, his recent slate of podium appearances with the Philharmonia Orchestra indicate that Mr. Salonen's baton has lost none of its bite. On Monday night, Mr. Salonen led the Philharmonia (which he will depart from in 2020 for a job with the San Francisco Symphony) in the second of two concerts at Lincoln Center this week, with his own Cello Concerto flanked by orchestral works by Sibelius and Stravinsky.

Festival Preview: White Light Festival 2018

Lincoln Center bridges music, art, theater and spirit in its annual offering.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Image of white light hitting a compact disc.

Running from October 16 to Nov. 18, the White Light Festival is Lincoln Center's annual celebration of the human spirit as expressed through the magic of music and art. Each year has a different focus on aspects of the human condition, seeking to answer the questions of existence:

• Why are we here?
• What are we doing here?
• And where around Lincoln Center can we afford to get something to eat after the show?

Concert Review: Old Stalin's Ghost

The Los Angeles Philharmonic returns to Lincoln Center.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Gustavo Dudamel returned to Lincoln Center with the
Los Angeles Philharmonic on Friday night. Photo courtesy Lincoln Center Press Dept.

The arrival of the sensational conductor Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic is always a cause for celebration at Lincoln Center. Mr. Dudamel remains the leading musical export of Venezuela, the proof that that country's El Sistema program is an entirely successful social experiment in producing quality musicians under difficult circumstances.

Concert Review: Follow the Bouncing Bow

Joshua Bell leads the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Joshua Bell leads his troops. Photo by Erik Kabik © 2018 Erik Kabik.

In the years before the 19th century, the conductor standing before an orchestra, baton in hand, was at best an anachronism. In choosing the American violinist Joshua Bell as its music director, the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields flew in the face of that tradition. At Monday night's concert at David Geffen Hall, Mr. Bell chooses to conduct most concerts from the concertmaster's chair (in this case, a piano bench) at the front of the first violins. Alternatively, he stood and led with his instrument in hand, using the tip of his violin bow.

Concert Review: Bell, Bax and Candlepower

Joshua Bell at Alice Tully Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Joshua Bell at work. Photo by Kirk Fratzke for the Minnesota Beethoven Festival.

The violinist Joshua Bell holds a high profile among masters of his instrument, regularly appearing as a soloist with major orchestras or leading his own current band, the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. On Thursday night, Mr. Bell gave a recital with pianist Alessio Bax at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, exploring the dichotomy between academic, formal works written for the violin and the flashy virtuoso pieces that dominated the latter half of the 19th century.

Concert Review: They Keep Calm, and Carry On

The LSO at Lincoln Center, with an unusual accompaniment.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Just do what the sign says: Michael Tilson Thomas.
Photo by Chris Wahlberg for MichaelTilsonThomas.com.

The London Symphony Orchestra returned to Lincoln Center on Wednesday night, for a lavish concert (complete with gala pre-show dinner on the Promenade of Avery Fisher Hall) featuring a sturdy program of 20th century classics. With principal guest conductor Michael Tilson Thomas at the helm, the orchestra's program of Britten, Gershwin and Sibelius was perfectly planned for this donor-heavy crowd, designed to raise funds for Great Performers at Lincoln Center.

Concert Review: Unbowed But Undefeated

The Budapest Festival Orchestra plays Dvořák. 
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Iván Fischer. Photo © 2014 by Dan Porges.

When the Budapest Festival Orchestra arrived in at Newark Airport, they received an unwelcome surprise. The orchestra's violinists had their bows (which were shipped separately to J.F.K.) seized by U.S. Customs at the Kennedy Airport due to suspicion that these vintage implements might contain ivory. On Monday night, with substitute bows (loaned by generous local string players) in hand, this Hungarian orchestra presented the second of two concerts focusing entirely on the music of Antonín Dvořák.

Concert Review: The Crimes of a Century

The Los Angeles Philharmonic returns to Lincoln Center.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Speaks with his hands: Los Angeles Philharmonic music director Gustavo Dudamel.
Photo by Luis Cobelo © 2014 Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Music Group.

The return of conductor Gustavo Dudamel to New York is always a momentous occasion. Sunday's concert with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall featured two heavy-weight symphonies that stand one century apart: the Symphony No. 1 of New York composer John Corigliano and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5., a perennial audience favorite. Outside, a small group of protestors congregated to remind concert-goers of the dangerous conditions in Mr. Dudamel's native Venezuela.

Inside, the conductor and his orchestra had other concerns.

Concert Review: The Fifth Beat

The London Philharmonic Orchestra plays Avery Fisher Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Vladimir Jurowski looking particularly excited.
Photo by Chris Chrisodoulou © 2012 Chris Chrisodolou. 

Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony is an important "statement" piece for any young conductor eager to cement his reputation as a maestro for the new millennium. So it makes sense that it was chosen by Vladimir Jurowski, the young Russian music director of the London Philharmonic Orchestra for Sunday’s matinee at Lincoln Center. Paired with it: the first Shostakovich Violin Concerto with soloist Vadim Repin. This was the first of two LPO concerts this week at Avery Fisher Hall.

Opera Review: It's a Gutter Ballet

Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts Wozzeck at Lincoln Center.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Baritone Simon Keenlyside sang Wozzeck at Lincoln Center.

On Monday night, Esa-Pekka Salonen led a concert performance of Alban Berg's Wozzeck, featuring the Philharmonia Orchestra and Simon Keenlyside in the title role. Although played in a concert setting, the singers eschewed music stands, playing out the drama in front of the orchestra in a narrow, claustrophobic acting space along the lip of the stage in Avery Fisher Hall.

Berg's opera is a study in contrasts. To set Woyzeck, the sprawling, chaotic play by Georg Büchner that is the opera's source material, the composer relied on an absolute, rigid use of forms. The first act is composed as a suite, with each short scene forming a dance movement of sorts. The second is a miniature symphony of despair. For the work's apocalyptic last act Berg created a series of "Inventions," with each scene based on a different type of musical element.

This rigorous approach paved the way for twelve-tone composition and the serialism that followed, but each piece of math music has its own radiant inner beauty. Mr. Salonen conducted a burly reading of the score that highlighted the chamber-like details and witty parodies that lie buried in this brilliant work. Compressing the three acts into a tight 95 minutes, he drove the performance with deadly precision, allowing the luminous moments in the score their own chances to shine.

Mr. Keenlyside, fresh from his run as Prospero in the Met's new production of The Tempest lay down his staff for Wozzeck's knife, inhabiting the soldier's madness for a harrowing three acts. Indeed, his Wozzeck seems unbalanced from the first few moments, jittering and twitching in the fields with Andreas, and barely interacting wih Marie and their child, here played by empty air.

Concert Review: The Leadership Gap

Valery Gergiev conducts Brahms at Lincoln Center.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Valery Gergiev led the London Symphony Orchestra on Wednesday night at Avery Fisher Hall.

The London Symphony Orchestra are one of England's most prominent, an ensemble known for its lush, vibrant string sound, powerful brass and precise approach to music making. However, on Wednesday night's concert at Avery Fisher Hall, the second of two Lincoln Center performances devoted to the music of Johannes Brahms, those qualities were dimmed by the conducting of current LSO Principal Conductor Valery Gergiev.

Balance problems were audible from the opening bars of the Piano Concerto No. 1. The stern opening theme sounded blurred, the familiar pauses slightly out of "whack." Those issues persisted as the theme moved around the orchestra and developed. At the first repetition of the tutti (just before the entry of the piano soloist) a clamor of many voices replaced Brahms' mighty shout.

Pianist Denis Matsuev was better, playing the complicated, and fully integrated solo part with power and precision. The bear-like Siberian pianist proved himself a sensitive, lyric artist as he integrated himself into the orchestral fabric, bursting forth in flourishes of melody and an occasional flash of brilliant prestidigitation.

The Superconductor 2012-2013 Season Preview: Great Performers at Lincoln Center

The annual series announces its lineup for 2012-2013.

Piano man: Jean-Yves Thibaudet plays Debussy at Lincoln Center this Fall.
Photo © IMG Artists.

Of the major series mounted annually at Lincoln Center, Great Performers is the hardest to define. It is essentially a traditional concert cycle, encompassing symphones, piano recitals and liederabend at the myriad venues of Lincoln Center. Here's what's on tap for next season.