Minnesota Nice

The Minnesota Orchestra re-hires Osmo Vänskä.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Osmo Vänskä has returned to the Minnesota Orchestra.
Photo from MinnesotaOrchestraMusicians.org © 2014 The Minnesota Orchestra. 

Sometimes an acrimonious labor dispute can have a happy ending.

The Minnesota Orchesta has re-hired its music director Osmo Vänskä, six months after the conductor quit his post in protest.

The Ice Breaks in Minnesota

The 15-month Minnesota Orchestra lockout is over.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

In a story that broke yesterday, the Minnesota Orchestra has ended its long lockout, putting to rest a labor dispute that turned into a Pyrrhic battle between musicians and management. The battle had a number of casualties, including the orchestra's music director Osmo Vänskä and 17 musicians who left the Twin Cities to play in other orchestras.

Concert Review: Romantic Living

Osmo Vänskä conducts at Mostly Mozart. 
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The pianist Rudolf Buchbinder. Photo by Marco Borggreve.

In recent decades, the Finnish conductor Osmo Vänskä has earned a deserved reputation as a classicist. His specialty: crisp, reliable readings of repertory standards, presented in a refreshing manner that always respects the written score.

On Wednesday night at Mostly Mozart, Mr. Vänskä turned his cerebral approach to works by Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. This was a performance that reflected the classical spirit of the festival but pointed the way forward to the 19th century and the birth of the Romantic movement.

The program opened with Mozart's Symphony No. 32, a single movement in four parts that may have been intended as a curtain-raiser the unfinished opera Zaide. Under Mr. Vänskä's hand, the value of this underrated gem shone forth clearly. He drew a clean, clear texture from the strings, a warm tone from the woodwinds and enthusiastic, noble solos from the horns who are asked to masquerade as other instruments in this particular score.

Concert Review: Beethoven 5, Sibelius 4

The Minnesota Orchestra at Carnegie Hall 

Conductor Osmo Vänskä.

Thanks to the 11th-hour generosity of my uncle, we found ourselves in possession of tickets to Carnegie Hall (again!) on Wednesday night. We ventured out in the snow to see the Minnesota Orchestra play symphonic works by Sibelius and Beethoven, the former's Fourth Symphony and the latter's mighty Fifth. Osmo Vänskä conducted.

The program opened with In Memoriam, a Sibelius symphonic poem commemorating the death of Finnish freedom fighter Eugene Schauman. Schauman assassinated General Nikolay Bobrikov, a harsh administrator appointed to rule Finland by Tsar Nicholas II. Shortly after assassinatin Bobrikov, Schauman took his own life. In his memory, Sibelius composed a dark, funereal piece, in which the influence of Gustav Mahler (particularly the Fifth Symphony) can be clearly heard.

This was followed by the equally serious Fourth Symphony, a work written during a period when Sibelius thought that he was battling with throat cancer. It is one of Sibelius' darkest compositions, asking many musical questions but not necessarily resolving itself. Mr. Vänskä produced exceptional clarity of sound from his Minnesota forces, who may have brought the bad weather with them but were nonetheless welcome on the Carnegie stage.

The second half of the concert featured a vigorous reading of Beethoven's famous Fifth. Mr. Vänskä made intelligent performance decisions, maintaining Beethoven's rhythmic figures while providing welcome surprises to the ear. The third movement was taken at a brisk, energetic pace.

The ascending figures at the end of the movement created a sense of anticipation, setting up the explosive theme that opens the finale. The last movement--one of Beethoven's most exhilarating, was both bright and triumphant. Mr. Vänskä is currently recording the nine Beethoven symphonies for BIS--this may be a cycle worth looking forward to when it is complete.