The Philadelphia Orchestra takes on (parts of) the Ring.
by
Paul J. Pelkonen
 |
Your Valkyrie Airlines flight director: conductor Donald Runnicles.
Photo by Ken Friedman © San Francisco Opera. |
In the last two years, as the Philadelphia Orchestra has struggled with (and emerged from) bankruptcy, programming for the ensemble's Kimmel Center concerts has been somewhat conservative. This is no doubt in an effort to keep the interest of an aging audience intent on hearing their favorites. Those conservative listeners were thrilled by this week's program selection, featuring Scottish maestro Donald Runnicles leading Beethoven's First Piano Concerto (with soloist Lars Vogt) and an hour's worth of selections from Richard Wagner's mighty
Ring Cycle.
The Beethoven opened the program, with Mr. Vogt displaying his precise, pedal-heavy approach to this music. Mr. Runnicles drove the accompaniment forward, reveling in the lush strings and winds that characterize the "Philly sound." Mr. Vogt too, seemed comfortable in his approach to the solo part, playing with a warm, singing tone and an appreciation for the robust humor that infects this early work. Especially impressive, the tricky cadenzas of the third movement, answered back by robust tone from the orchestra.
Mr. Runnicles returned to start the Wagner excerpts with the
Ride of the Valkyries, that Act III curtain-raiser from
Die Walküre beloved of Army colonels and a certain, magic helmet wearing rabbit-hunter. Although the early horn-calls featured a few false notes at the top of the phrase, the players settled in to create the illusion of soaring flight and wild warrior women without the aid of sopranos, costumes, or rising and falling planks. The cellos were particularly fine here, supplying the tricky "horse" rhythms that are the engines of this piece.
