Concert Review: RPO performs "Beethoven 'Eroica'"

Before the concert started Thursday night, I heard a woman
say to the man next to her, “If you don’t want to stay, we don’t have to. It’s
not like you haven’t heard ‘Eroica’ before.”

It’s good that they stayed, because last night guest
conductor Courtney Lewis led the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra through a
definitive interpretation of Beethoven’s monumental Symphony No. 3 in E-flat
Major, the “Eroica” symphony.

The RPO has been put through more than its share of guest
conductors recently, and the entire next season will feature a different guest
conductor for every program. I have had my share of worries and doubts about
the situation, particularly because I consider the RPO to be a world-class
orchestra with tremendous potential.

What Lewis gave the RPO last night was the workout the
orchestra has needed. Lewis found a way to exploit the many strengths of the
RPO, from its scintillating pianissimos in the strings to its reverberating
fortissimos. Lewis got the musicians off the backs of their chairs, kept their
elbows high, and left them walking out the back door of the Eastman wearing
child-like grins.

How did he do it?

There were two crucial elements to the success of Lewis and
the RPO. First, Lewis set the perfect tempo for the first movement. The
“Allegro con brio” (I would translate that as “briskly with brilliance and
sparkle”) was firmly set at the first measure. This is a long movement, and it
requires terrific skill and stamina from conductor and musicians. There was not
even the slightest falter in the tempo transitions, the turns of phrase, and
the sharp contrasts of dynamics.

Of course, setting that pace for the first movement had me thinking
ahead about the tempos for the third and forth movements. Relating the first to
the second movement, the “Marcia funebre: Adagio assai” (a funeral march, but
not so much so), not too difficult. The third movement was a “Scherzo: Allegro
vivace” (a lively Scherzo), which Lewis nicely took at a brisk and elegant
pace. With only a single beat between third and fourth movements, Lewis plunged
the RPO into the “Finale: Allegro molto” (a finale, with much gusto). It turned
out there was still speed, agility, and dynamic range enough to bring the
lengthy symphony to a thrilling conclusion.

Which leads me to the second major compliment:
Lewis’ interpretation of “Eroica,” capturing all the
glory and the madness of an authentic rendition of the great Herr Ludwig van
Beethoven. Too often, a Beethoven composition is performed because it is
a “core work.” And while those performances might be technically sound and
following the markings written on the page, the very soul of the composer is
not even considered.

When I interviewed Lewis for our feature article in this
week’s City Newspaper, Lewis talked about the moment he first hear the “Eroica”
and how he carried around the CD and played it until he wore it out. He spoke
as if he knew Beethoven as a contemporary, explaining that Beethoven said the
“Eroica” was “about me, about expressing my feelings; it’s not about me writing
a symphony,” and Lewis used big, emotional terms like “triumph,” “dread,” “loneliest
music he wrote.” All of this came pouring across the stage through Lewis’ baton
and the RPO musicians.

Also on the program was the Concerto No. 2 in d-minor for
Violin and Orchestra, Op.22 of Henri Wieniawski, with violinist Corey Cerovsek. Cerovsek performed on the “Milanollo”
Stradivarius (1728), which has been played by, among others, Niccolo Paganini. The
Stradivarius violins are so remarkable and memorable that I could not help but
compare and contrast it against those used at the RPO by Augustin Hadelich
(romantic throughout its range) and Itzhak Perlman (deeper, cello-like).
Cerovsek’s Stradivarius was unquestionably a high soprano en pointe, yearning
to get into the highest notes of the upper ranges of the Wieniawski concerto.

Cerovsek demonstrated his
long-standing knowledge and multiple performances of the piece, which he had
described to me during his interview for this week’s feature in City. He was at
once technically capable and sufficiently relaxed to give us his enjoyment of
the composer and the work.

The challenge for Cerovsek and
Lewis was Cerovsek’s intimate knowledge of the work versus a first-time
performance for the conductor and the orchestra. In a few spots, the violin and
the orchestra had quickly to catch each other. It’s a simple matter of
familiarity between all the players, and, given the roar that went up from the
audience at the end of the performance, I may have been the only one making
this note.

The other work on the program was “Remembrances,” by
American composer Margaret Brouwer (b. 1940). The work was full, warm, and
lyrical. It swept across large arcs of sound and color. It made particularly
good use of the French horns. In some ways, it reminded me of RPO performances
with Conductor Laureate Christopher Seaman and his favored British composers,
where I often found myself comparing it to the moods of the North
Sea.

The Rochester
Philharmonic Orchestra will perform the program again Saturday, April 20, at 8
p.m. at Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre. Tickets cost $15-$82. For more
information visit the RPO website.