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Bach, Szymanowski, R. Strauss, Mussorgsky: Emanuel Ax (piano), Robert Langevin (flute), Philip Smith (trumpet), Sheryl Staples (violin), Lian Wang (oboe), Lorin Maazel (conductor), New York Philharmonic, Avery Fisher Hall, New York City, 3.1.2009 (BH)

Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major, BWV 1047 (ca. 1717-21)
Szymanowski: Symphonie concertante for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 60 (Symphony No. 4; 1932)
R. Strauss: Burleske in D minor for Piano and Orchestra (1885-86; rev. 1890)
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (1874; arr. Ravel 1922)


After spending a few minutes trying to decipher this enigmatically conceived program by Lorin Maazel and the New York Philharmonic, I mentally waved the white flag and focused on the ensemble playing, as well as the chance to hear one relative rarity, Szymanowski's Symphonie concertante.  In the Bach Second Brandenburg Concerto, four members of the orchestra were thrust into the limelight.  Concertmaster Sheryl Staples joined Robert Langevin on flute, with Philip Smith on trumpet and Lian Wang on a peppery oboe, surrounded by a rather large orchestral complement.  Historically informed performance practice was temporarily set aside, which didn't bother me, but despite the ardent circle of soloists, and I didn't sense enough involvement from the podium.

Things picked up considerably in the Szymanowski, with Emanuel Ax navigating the often-thundering piano part.  Bartókian influences melded with sweepingly lyrical plateaus, with orchestra and soloist rarely allowed to rest.  Kudos to Maazel for merely programming the piece at all; while the notes cite Dutoit's performance in 1990, I don't recall another work by this composer on any program in recent memory.  Given the opportunity for repeated hearings, it could easily grow into an audience favorite.  Ax returned for Richard Strauss's Burleske, written when the composer was just 21 years old, and it displays a young composer's thoughts well before he would create his later masterworks.  As in the recent concert Elektra, the orchestra imbued their part with opulence, and surprisingly, the Strauss emerged as the more transparent of the two scores.

Despite some spectacular playing by the orchestra, Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition also had a slightly routine feeling.  Lately I admit to being slightly disappointed when I see Maazel take the podium without a score; his formidable intellect needs to be challenged by unfamiliar music.  The initial "Promenade" showed the brass section on a very good night, and the sonic whirlpools of "Gnome" registered cleanly but without much savagery.  Powerful strings made "The Old Castle" and "Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle" lurch menacingly, but "Bydlo" was undercut by a shaky tuba.  Best of all was the amusing "Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks," to which Maazel applied a light hand that I'd like to see more often.  But the climactic "Great Gate of Kiev" seemed interminable, drawn out to almost lugubrious proportions.  I don't mind a slight slowing down for drama, but as with some of his Ravel readings, Maazel almost sapped the section of its aural energy—an odd sensation when one's eyes can see the musicians are playing at full tilt.

Bruce Hodges

Mark Berry's review of this same concert is Here

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