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Mozart, Wuorinen, Rossini and Mendelsson: Joyce DiDonato (soprano), Peter Serkin (piano), James Levine (conductor), The MET Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, New York City, 25.1.2009 (BH)

Mozart: Ch'io mi scordi di te?…Non temer, amato bene, K. 505 (1786)
Wuorinen: Time Regained, a Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra (2008, world premiere)
Rossini: La Regata Veneziana (1835, orch. Gamley)
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90, "Italian" (1833)


Never let it be said that James Levine doesn’t give an audience its money's worth.  In a little over two hours with the MET Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, he packed in not one but two guest stars (including an encore), a world premiere and a positively malevolent reading of Mendelssohn's "Italian" Symphony. Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato got things rolling with Mozart's Ch'io mi scordi di te?…Non temer, amato bene, K. 505 (1786), and from the minute she began, her voice seemed about five times the size of the space.  (And she looked every bit the diva, clad in an off-the-shoulder number with a pale rose-gold shimmer.)  With creamy trilled "r's," confident attacks and impressive accuracy, DiDonato seemed to be lobbing tennis balls into the far corners of the hall, unintimidated by the size of the ensemble behind her.

She returned after intermission with La Regata Veneziana, a charming showpiece by Rossini, about a Venetian girl whose lover is participating in a regatta.  In Part I she anticipates the event, the much faster Part II describes the race itself, and in Part III the couple celebrate with a kiss (or, use your imagination).  Here DiDonato showed even more charm, biting her lower lip in anticipation (Part I) and beaming with pride (Part III), with Levine and the orchestra underpinning her securely all the way.  The reaction from the audience left no doubt that she has a fan club—a fairly large one, at that—and some murmured in recognition as she began her encore, "Non più mesta accanto al fuoco" from La Cenerentola.

The Sunday afternoon surprise came from Charles Wuorinen, who probably startled everyone in the house with his new Time Regained (borrowing the title from Proust).  It is unlike any Wuorinen work I have ever heard: think "Renaissance fair," and let your mind wander.  Inspired by Guillaume de Machaut, Orlando Gibbons and others of that period, Wuorinen has filtered their "raw musical data" through a 21st-century prism, and I found the result totally intriguing, not to mention reconfirming that some composers still pore over tonal tools now and then. It was also interesting to hear an orchestral opera machine take on sounds normally heard by say, the Rose Consort of Viols. Massive piano attacks echoed the occasional interruptions by brass fanfares surging fortissimo into the foreground.  Eerie gongs introduce each section.  Pianist Peter Serkin, for whom the piece was written, played with admirable poise, even a bit of humor, laying down precise keyboard strokes against the spare, often simply conceived textures. 

If Mendelssohn had any thoughts about his "Italian" Symphony as a witch's dance, that was certainly the impression Levine left in this stormy reading, filled with sulfurous abandon.  In the first movement, his swiveling conductor's chair was getting a hearty workout in a breezy yet full-throated Allegro vivace.  The brisk Andante was notable for its exquisite ending by the double basses, and the third movement showed off the grace and warmth of the horns.  The final movement might have been the fastest I've ever heard anyone attempt; the violins' ability to knock-off the relentless parade of triplets at such high speeds was pretty astonishing.  In my notes I wrote, tarantella or tornado? 

Bruce Hodges


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