Concert Review: The Music Doesn't Lie

Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Schubert at Carnegie Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Yannick Nézet-Séguin (center) Jan Lisiecki (right) and the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Photo by Ebru Yildiz for National Public Radio.

New York's relationship with conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin has undergone a fundamental change since the maestro added the music directorship of the Metropolitan Opera to his duties. On Friday night at Carnegie Hall, his entrance was met with a storm of applause for a conductor, who was leading his other ensemble, the Philadelphia Orchestra in a program of Schubert, Mendelssohn and a new piece by Nico Muhly. He has become a beloved and essential musical figure, who will hopefully only rise in prominence in the decade to come.

Concert Review: The Ringstrasse Cycle

The Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The maestro in flight: Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
Photo by Jan Egan © 2016 The Philadelphia Orchestra.

The city of Vienna is a hallowed place, haunted by the ghosts of the great composers, a galaxy of talent from Beethoven to Zemlinsky. oOn Thursday night, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra gave their first Carnegie Hall concert of 2016' a program that bridged together the work of four great composers, all of whom had strong connections to the city by the Danube.

Concert Review: An Unexpected Party

David Zinman steps in at the Philharmonic.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

David Zinman in motion. Photo courtesy davidzinman.org.

This week at the New York Philharmonic was supposed to be a summit of young artists. Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki was scheduled to make his New York debut with the Schumann Piano Concerto. And on the podium: Daniel Harding, the imaginative young British conductor. Music lovers looked forward to hearing his interpretations of two Sibelius symphonies: the Third and Seventh.

However, Mr. Harding cancelled due to illness. His place was taken by David Zinman, the veteran American conductor (and Brooklyn native) who last appeared with the orchestra for The Modern Beethoven, a two-week survey of that composer's instrumental symphonies in March of this year. From the chugging cello-driven opening of the Sibelius Third, the audience at Friday morning's 11am concert knew that they, and the orchestra were in the hands of an expert.

Mr. Zinman's calling card is clarity, bringing out unusual textures from the depths of a well-known score so listeners sometimes walk out having heard a work in a different way. This approach was admirably suited to the Sibelius Third, a lean, thirsty symphony in which the Finnish composer eschewed nationalism and narrative for pure music and an economy of style that would serve as his second musical legacy.