The world premiere of American composer Jennifer Higdon’s
Harp Concerto, performed by soloist Yolanda Kondonassis,
had already made last night’s Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra concert one of
the more anticipated events of the season. The RPO’s performance, capably led
by Music Director Ward Stare, more than fulfilled the promise of the program.
There are few compositions as ingenious and evocative as
Benjamin Britten’s Four Sea Interludes from “Peter Grimes.” Britten is a
composer who demands a challenging blend of exactitude and lyricism of the
musicians who interpret his work. The result is often music that is equally
majestic and unsettling. From the haunting opening melody in the violins and
the woodwinds’ foreboding, arpeggiated response
onward, the powerful articulation and heartfelt phrasing gives the music added
poignancy.
Stare’s leadership was clear and precise, and the orchestra
responded in kind. By the fourth interlude, entitled “Storm: Presto con fuoco,” the strings stung, and the brass section sounded a
kind of ominous war cry. The savage cruelty evidenced in the opera “Peter
Grimes” felt embedded in the notes, as the piece ended in a menacingly
seductive atmosphere.
At the outset of Higdon’s Harp concerto, ambiguous
expectation permeated the air. What started out as a somewhat muted affair
quickly became a sweeping scape with symphonic tendencies. Higdon was keen to
showcase the harp’s naturally rich harmonic colors, and there was something
prayerful about Kondonassis’s playing, particularly in the quieter moments.
A rare moment in the concert-going experience immediately
followed the first movement, when Kondonassis
promptly announced that she had to replace one of her harp strings –lest it
break during the performance — before continuing with the remainder of the
world premiere. After an enlightening commentary on the ever-worrisome shortage
of quality cow gut in Europe (from which the best harp strings are made) and a
quick tune-up, Kondonassis and company continued on
undeterred.
The concerto’s second movement, “Joy Ride,” began with a
hypnotic descending scale on the harp, amid the bustling sounds of the
orchestra. Sonically, the presence of Kondonassis’s harp seemed to signify
magic at work, in the throes of a hectic and sobering reality, as played by the
orchestra.
For the next movement, the inspired “Lullaby,” Kondonassis’s
mystical harp began a gorgeous dialogue with solo viola, before flute, cello,
melodic percussion, and additional woodwinds joined the interplay. The
vibraphone and bells reinforced the divine character of Kondonassis’s tone, and
something akin to Renaissance song in Higdon’s melodies only heightened the
mystery.
“Rap Knock,” the concerto’s final movement,
felt bizarre, a postmodern outlier that almost seemed out of place next to the
comparative control and serenity of the previous three movements. Surrounded
by boisterous orchestral outbursts, Higdon wrote crystalline melodic passages
for Kondonassis that were quickly blindsided by
dissonant swipes at the harp’s strings. The previously conventional concerto
acquired a welcome avant-garde, dance-like quality.
The concert concluded with Johannes Brahms’s inexhaustible
Symphony No. 2. Brahms excelled at imbuing the orchestra with a warm, almost
choral sound, replete with a rich harmonic vocabulary. His second symphony is
no different.
Stare gave an especially charismatic and tenacious
performance here, and the flow of the ensemble felt effortless. The music had
an undeniable jubilance, and no one seemed to be enjoying it more.than Stare, who moved about the podium in an
indefatigable series of hops. The fortitude and stamina exhibited by the RPO in
the concert’s finale was nothing short of impressive.
As a whole, this was a polished and powerful showing by Stare
and his coterie of musicians. If anything, the performance further demonstrated
that the RPO should be interpreting even more works from the 20th century and
beyond.
This article appears in May 9-15, 2018.
