Tag: clyne

Columbus Symphony offers invigorating survey of 20th- and 21st-century works with Natasha Paremski

On By Sam JacobsonIn columbusLeave a comment

Columbus Symphony Orchestra
Rossen Milanov, conductor 
Natasha Paremski, piano
Ohio Theatre
Columbus, OH
May 3, 2024

Lutosławski: Symphony No. 1
Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43
Clyne: This Moment
Strauss: Suite from Der Rosenkavalier, Op. 59

Last weekend’s Columbus Symphony program was of particularly inspired and enterprising programming, traversing three works from various points of the 20th-century, and a fourth work composed just last year. Witold Lutosławski was at the vanguard of midcentury modernism, and like Shostakovich and Prokofiev, saw his works heavily repressed by the communist authorities. Such was certainly the case for his First Symphony, composed 1941-47 – during and in the immediate aftermath of WWII – which was suppressed for a decade after its first performance.

Natasha Paremski, Rossen Milanov, and the Columbus Symphony

It’s a landmark work, to be sure, brimming with the composer’s individual voice but readily accessible, and kudos to Milanov for giving the first Columbus hearing. In his spoken introduction, the conductor reminisced about meeting Lutosławski while a student in Pittsburgh. Cataclysmic beginnings were to be had in the work, uncompromisingly expressing the bleak spirit of the times – much to the chagrin of the Soviet apparatchiks. The brass provided a certain sheen of brightness, and piano and harp further added to the colorful scoring.

An extended slow movement saw low strings underpinning a horn solo, giving some semblance of peace after the cacophony of the preceding, but not without a certain unease with its pained lyricism. A flowing solo passage from concertmaster Joanna Frankel ranged from the subdued to the impassioned. The Allegretto misterioso was eerie and mysterious, and its fleeting quality reminded me of the Schattenhaft from Mahler’s Seventh. A shimmering interlude near the movement’s close was quite striking before the finale returned to the vigor of the opening. Hats off to the CSO for a blistering performance of a complex score.

Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini was certainly more familiar territory, and brought forth Natasha Paremski as soloist. Paremski was further on hand for a preconcert interview with Milanov (as a sidebar: could Milanov please let his guests speak uninterrupted?). Matters began with a thundering articulation of the skeleton of the ubiquitous theme, and Paremski took things at a rapid, unsentimental tempo, supported by her impressive fingerwork. Variation 7 introduced the Dies irae theme in a meditative manner before building to crashing double octaves. Variation 18 was suitably sumptuous while skirting the saccharine, and Paremski had no shortage of pianistic fireworks in the final variations before the flippant closing gesture.

Anna Clyne’s This Moment came about on commission from the League of American Orchestras, as part of an initiative to proliferate music by women composers. The title alludes to a quote from Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh: “this moment is full of wonders.” The work further invokes quotes from the Kyrie and Lacrimosa of Mozart’s Requiem, which Milanov helpfully had orchestra members demonstrate (and in the present context, perhaps also offered a thematic connection to the Dies irae from the Rachmaninoff). Meditative stillness seemingly stretched the moment, building to more strident material. It’s an appealing piece, but ultimately its six-minute duration didn’t make the strongest impression as a standalone work.

A suite from Strauss’ opera Der Rosenkavalier closed the evening. From bar one, the Ohio Theatre was enveloped in its lush, honeyed, excess. I was struck by the richness of the strings, as well as fine playing from the winds with a standout oboe solo. The Ochs-Waltzes were elegant, stylish, and echt-Viennese, and the suite crested to searing passion.

Preconcert interview with Paremski and Milanov

ProMusica closes season with Beethoven and Mendelssohn

On By Sam JacobsonIn columbus1 Comment

ProMusica Chamber Orchestra
David Danzmayr, conductor
Martina Filjak, piano
Southern Theatre
Columbus, OH
May 7, 2022

Clyne: Stride
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37
 Encore:
 Pärt: Für Alina
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90, Italian

This weekend saw the close of ProMusica’s 43rd season, and the first full season since the pandemic hit. The evening kicked off in particularly delightful fashion with young students from ProMusica’s Play Us Forward program performing two short works for strings. ProMusica then took to the stage with a recent work by Anna Clyne, written in 2020 for the Beethoven 250th anniversary. Stride takes its cue from Beethoven’s Pathétique sonata and its name comes from the broken octave figures in the bass that one finds in the sonata and would later be associated with stride piano playing. Clyne’s work is cast in three interconnected movements, mirroring the structure of the source material. As in the Pathétique, prominent dotted rhythm gestures opened, and the “stride” figures were interlaced with quotes from the sonata, some more veiled than others. I was particularly struck by theme of the rondo finale being presented at a slow tempo, revealing a languid character beneath the surface. A brilliant reimagining of this venerable sonata.

Martina Filjak, David Danzmayr, and ProMusica, photo credit ProMusica

Beethoven reserved C minor for some of his most personal works – a body of work that includes the Pathétique sonata as well as the Third Piano Concerto, the latter of which engaged Croatian pianist Martina Filjak. I remember seeing her last when she won the 2009 edition of the Cleveland International Piano Competition, and it was wonderful to see her again all these years later with a flourishing career to her name. The orchestral introduction was crisply articulated, although one perhaps wanted conductor David Danzmayr to draw out even greater dynamic contrasts and variety. Filjak’s entry had the requisite drama, but her playing was stylish and elegant at heart, showing Beethoven at his most urbane and cosmopolitan. It seemed that she approached the work more akin to a Mozart concerto; while the first two certainly show indebtedness to the composer’s predecessor, the Third marks a stark departure. Nonetheless, the cadenza was fiery and impassioned, and the first movement’s enigmatic ending was deftly executed.

The lovely Largo was prayer-like and plaintive, and the concluding Rondo started with a sudden burst of the energy, building to the brilliant switch to the major in the final few bars. As an encore, Filjak opted for a work worlds apart from Beethoven (despite any associations to Beethoven the title might suggest): Pärt’s Für Alina, strikingly wonderful in its barren textures and mystical musings.

This season has seen several major works of Mendelssohn performed – the Scottish symphony, the violin concerto – and the trend was continued with the ebullient Italian symphony. Some unevenness in the brass did little to detract from the first movement’s buoyancy, given with classical economy and balance. A really delightful performance, perhaps nowhere more so than in the kinetic energy of the vibrant, sunny saltarello that closed.