The 2016-17 Philharmonic season saw the RPO find a unity of
sound that had previously evaded them. During the last few seasons, I was more
frequently able to single out a particular instrument section for praise or
identify another section in need of improvement. It has become nearly
impossible to do this now. Stare has the orchestra sounding with one voice, and
playing with an ease and level of articulation you might regularly hear from
more famous orchestras.
I am
admittedly disappointed by next season’s backward step toward a more
conservative selection of works with fewer pieces by living composers. World premieres
by Jennifer Higdon and Allen Shawn are the only representatives in that
category. The decision not to build on the momentum of this season’s American
Music Festival feels like a missed opportunity. That said, the 2017-18
Philharmonics season does include welcome compositions from Berg, Britten, Ligeti, and Bernstein — all of whom are not performed
nearly enough. — BY DANIEL KUSHNER
I didn’t attend every RPO concert this season, but I attended
enough to hear a year of interesting programs and outstanding performances by
the orchestra and by soloists: James Ehnes’s
magisterial account of the Beethoven Violin Concerto; Colin Currie’s whirlwind
tour of Jennifer Higdon’s Percussion Concerto; and Jeremy Denk’s
thoughtful take on the Brahms First Piano Concerto.
Two
especially memorable performances came from concertmaster Juliana Athayde, who joined violist Melissa Matson in a sublime
duet in Mozart’s “Sinfonia Concertante,” which was
conducted by Michael Butterman. Athayde
also played a red-hot Bartók Second Violin Concerto
with guest conductor Fabien Gabel a couple of weeks ago.
This was the
season that Ward Stare instituted an American Music Festival — which I hope
thrives in the future (a Beethoven Festival will take its place next season).
The highlight of this for me was the first Rochester performance of John Adams’
powerful “Doctor Atomic Symphony,” but no less exciting was Copland’s Third,
one of Stare and the RPO’s best performances.
Stare is
varying the orchestra’s repertoire: besides American music and big works by
French composers (Ravel, Debussy, Dukas), I am
delighted by a recent uptick in music by Bartók: two
piano concertos last season, the Second Violin Concerto this season, and “The
Miraculous Mandarin” next, and such big works as Mahler’s Fifth Symphony and
Stravinsky’s “Symphony in Three Movements.” By the way, Stare’s Beethoven and
Brahms this year weren’t bad either. Even concert openers like Alan Hovhaness’s
“Prelude and Quadruple Fugue” and Bernard Herrmann’s “Vertigo” were unexpected
but ideal. Stare continues to be a good steward of the RPO’s sound, which is
now dependably rich and versatile.
— BY DAVID RAYMOND
This article appears in May 31 – Jun 6, 2017.
