BSO soars on its 10th year at Strathmore

Strathmore Music Center, Bethesda, MD/BSO photo

At the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's celebration of its 10th anniversary at the Strathmore Music Center Thursday night, fireworks and stars ignited an explosion of sorts when Garrick Ohlsson played Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18. 

The audience sat enthralled during the performance and at the end, called the pianist back four times.

Before the show began, I announced to a woman who sat two seats from me, hugging the wall, that I had come for Rachmaninoff.

"Oh," she smiled rather meekly, "I am new to classical music."

Well, our seats aren't the best, I whined (we were on the wrong side of the piano), but it's the sound we came to hear, not the visuals, and besides, I said, the price is right.

Garrick Ohlsson in Prague, May, 2013/YouTube

From our seats we could not see Mr. Ohlsson's hands as they raced up and down the keyboard like lilies gracefully landing at the speed of an asteroid upon a pond. 

And then...ouch! 

When he reached certain points in the composition, his fingers withdrew quickly as if he were striking a hot stove.

During some of the piece, while he played on, his eyes moved from the keyboard, and he watched Conductor Marin Alsop. Between the first and second movements when some in the center section began to applaud as they are wont to do, Mr. Ohlsson winced as he looked down upon the keys.

Two years ago I ventured out to Strathmore to hear Mr. Ohlsson play Rachy's Third Piano Concerto, another stellar performance. 

Before the music began last week, the announced program was delayed about 15 minutes by BSO leaders giving each other thanks, and then a huge screen dropped above the orchestra to reveal a bird's eye view of Mr. Ohlsson's hands which we were able to see, after all.

I wondered how many would call the screen a distraction, and at intermission, another seatmate and I discussed our mutual reactions. We were both magnetized by the video and at times, had to force our attention back to the music.

"I suppose people will complain," he said, and I agreed. 

It's hard to please everyone, I said, but the orchestras and symphonies now must pull out all stops to attract the younger crowds and whatever interaction it takes, it takes.

"Look around," he said.  "Where are the young ones?" and nodded to a fellow with a red beard in the center section who actually didn't look too young to me:  "There's one."  One.  About 35?   (Is 35 "young"?)

Whatever.

On my other side sat a lovely couple from Richmond who drove up to see "our Marin" conduct the BSO. 

Conductor Marin Alsop/BSO photo

 
"She was our assistant conductor for a year," the woman said proudly.  

I told them Conductor Alsop was quite popular "up here" and could probably be elected governor of Maryland, for if a Republican can be elected governor of Maryland....

"We knew she would not stay long in Richmond and would move up," said the woman's husband.  The woman wore a finger purse (!) and frequently used her opera glasses (we were seven rows from the front) which were trimmed in gold and silver. 

She asked me if there's a sign law up here.

Pardon, I said: A sign law?

"The signs here are so small, we can't find anything!" she exclaimed.

The second half of the show was a huge success, too, with Ottorino Respighi's Church Windows and The Pines of Rome. 

Several days later I noted among the pages of the Washington Post that the negative Robert Battey (what does he like?) was indeed annoyed by the giant screen and pooh-poohed the evening, wondering what in the world did the performance by a teenager, Evelyn Song (really, that's her name) who played the violin with the BSO's concertmaster, Jonathan Carney, at the beginning of the evening, mean exactly.

I'll tell you what it meant, Mr. Battey: The BSO rightfully was bragging about its outreach to the youth of the area in its two short videos, demonstrated by a 16-year-old virtuoso on the violin. That's what it meant.  What kind of understanding does that require?

Besides, Mr. Battey, can't your newspaper find a more current photo of Mr. Ohlsson than the old one it ran picturing the artist, not in the tails he wore Thursday, but in a 1970s suit which may have been shot at a rehearsal in Nebraska?

What a night at the concert hall!

A good reason to skip the Smithsonian's world religion lecture on Hinduism.

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Baltimore Symphony presents 'From Russia with Love'

Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg was the guest artist at Thursday's performance at Strathmore by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra/Photo by Christian Steiner

It was a night of music from Russia. 

Forget Putin but think Shostakovich (1906-1975) and Rachmaninoff (1873-1943), my two favorite composers, who filled the house and the program by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at Strathmore Thursday evening.

What was not to like?

The evening began with Sergei Rachmaninoff's always popular Vocalise followed by the powerful presentation by guest artist, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, who delivered Dimitri Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor. 

From the first movement, when the sounds from her violin expressed sadness and later, foreshadowing, with singular percussion, a haunted tension led to the fierce passion of the second, the scherzo, and the melodies of the third, culminating in the lively but harsh finale.

The fervor Salerno-Sonnenberg utilized in interpretation matched the color of her red top which matched the blouse Maestro Marin Alsop wore which matched the evening's energy exuded by all the forces on stage.

Members of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra/Photo, BSO

While she pierced her instrument with her bow, Salerno-Sonnenberg moved up and down, bending at times almost at right angles, frequently grimacing and expressing anguish.

Music and stand were unnecessary since she seemed to play with her eyes closed most of the time, or so they appeared to me in my chair nearby.

She pounded the violin strings, leaving one guessing how the poor instrument was able to endure her strength and intensity without breakage, but it answered in perfect response every time, softly and eloquently as she required, alas, no doubt fearful of going astray.

At times, during a violin respite, Salerno-Sonnenberg stood and turned her back to the audience, becoming a fan to enjoy majestic achievement by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra while Maestro Alsop weaved and led nearby.

Conductor Marin Alsop of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra/Photo, BSO

Salerno-Sonnenberg's casual apparel (black skinny jeans) belied her performance which ended with shouts and cheers from the standing gallery and, for the first time, she smiled broadly and saluted her comrades, orchestra members whose output, as usual, was every bit as perfect as one has come to expect. 

The evening ended with Rachmaninoff's splendid Symphonic Dances with noticeable contributions from his beloved piano.  He wrote it only three years before he died, a summation, which he composed for the Russian ballet dancer, Fokine, according to program notes. 

For the encore, the orchestra played Shostakovich's Bolt Ballet Suite, No. 8 Final Dance and Apotheosis which was well received.

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra/Photo, BSO

Strathmore's love affair with Maestro Alsop continues:  Her contract has been renewed for seven years.

Ms. Salerno-Sonnenberg, a U.S. citizen, was born in Rome in 1961 and emigrated with her family to the U.S. when she was eight years old. In 2008 she was appointed music director of the New Century Chamber Orchestra in San Francisco. 

You can take the music out of Russia but you can't take Russia out of the music.  Amen. 

Thank you to Total Wine & More for sponsoring the show. 

Please, once more I must ask what's wrong with Strathmore that it doesn't install more seats and tables for dinner patrons?  How many years have I been complaining about this?  Think of the missed revenue because of lousy facility management, not to mention customer satisfaction.

Although you may be seated at one of the tiny tables for dinner before the concert, it does not guarantee that a pushy patron (comparable to those at the Kennedy Center) will not uplift your chair and dump you right out upon the floor. Or so goes the feeling.

After being dumped, just try to enter the lobby outside the music hall and find a seat to drink your wine or coffee.  Reserved for ushers and closed to patrons until 7:30 p.m., if you please.

Where is a person to go? 

Oh, I forgot: The patio with a temperature of 30 degrees Fahrenheit. Конечно!

Coffee or wine may warm you up on the Strathmore patio/Photo, BSO

BSO performances coming up at Strathmore:

March 15: Bach's Brandenburgs

March 22: Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto

March 27: The Bee Gees and 'Stayin' Alive'

April 5:  Bugs!  (Two performances for young children)

April 5:  Andre Watts Returns!

April 10:  Itzhak Perlman

April 25: Off the Cuff:  Mahler's Titan

May 3: Moo, Baa, Neigh (Two performances for young children)

May 3:  Yefim Bronfman

May 15:  All That Jazz, celebrating Kander and Ebb

May 24:  Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto

May 29:  A Midsummer Night's Dream Concert

June 7:  Summertime Movin' and Groovin' (Two performances for young children)

June 7:  Beethoven's Ninth

June 14:  Casablanca with music

Where:   Strathmore is located at 5301 Tuckerman Lane, N. Bethesda, MD 20852.

Park:  For free at the adjacent Metro Strathmore station.

Tickets:  Click here.



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A Russian night at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

Dima Slobodeniouk, the

guest conductor at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra/Marco Borggreve 

I went to hear Rachmaninoff but was carried away by Shostakovich.

Both composers were born in Russia and their music was performed beautifully all through the night by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Saturday at Strathmore, led by another Russian-born musician, the guest conductor, Dima Slobodeniouk, making his BSO debut.

The standing crowd loved him and the guest pianist, Simon Trpceski from Macedonia, calling them back three times when the duo completed the first part of the program, Sergei Rachmaninoff's The Rock, Fantasy, Op. 7 and his Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Minor, Op. 40.

Simon Trpceski, guest artist, at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra/Julian Edelstein

Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) wrote The Rock, a "tone poem" when he was only 20 and, according to program notes, based it on an 1885 short story by another Russian, Anton Chekhov, about an old man, enticed by a younger woman who captured his heart and left him in the morning.  (Sigh.  Do things change?)

The piece begins and ends with the man's depression, foreboding, heavy bassoon notes which evoke a castoff, the rock, indeed.  The flute conjures up the young miss, bringing to mind the innocent Peter as in Peter and the Wolf (which the BSO will play April 6 at the Meyerhoff in Baltimore).   

An "explosion" of great strength signals the end of the man's fairy tale and his return, sadly, to reality.

Members of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra/Dave Harp

From the mood of despair (carpe diem), the orchestra moved to Rachmaninoff's "stepchild," his Piano Concerto No. 4 which he re-wrote and revised over a period of 27 years, probably his least performed piano concert today, and it's not difficult to understand why, when compared to his other works. The orchestra could not have played it better, absolutely magnificent to hear but, nonetheless, it is overshadowed by the composer's Third Piano Concerto which the BSO played at Strathmore in January.  Oh well, there is no going wrong with a choice of Rachmaninoff, no matter what the piece.

During the production, Trpceski frequently turned his head to the right angle of the piano to look at members of the orchestra, his fingers never stopping their work on the keyboard.  In a few instances he rose several inches from the bench, almost in an unconscious state, while his fingers continued to hit the right notes. Can he play blindfolded? 

Meanwhile, from his back, Conductor Slobodeniouk bore a strong resemblance to a shorter President Obama.

To the delight of all and to satisfy those hungry for more, Trpceski returned to the stage upon his finish to play what some of us believed was a short Chopin piece which he dedicated to (it sounded like) an 89-year-old woman in the audience whose life "was turned around at age 2" by music.  Bravo!

After intermission came Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 11 in G Minor, Op. 103, "The Year 1905."

Knowing a little of the history and basis for the symphony, ably supplied by Janet E. Bedell in the program notes, made it more alluring.

The composer (1906-1975), who was to become quite the political composer,  was born in St. Petersburg about 18 months after approximately 3,000 peaceful demonstrators marched to the Winter Palace on January 9, 1905 to present Tsar Nicholas II with a petition requesting improvement to their harsh living conditions.  Among their requests:  an eight-hour work day with limited overtime, "equality of all persons," and a progressive income tax.  

Although Nicholas was not in the city and therefore not threatened, his soldiers fired upon the citizens, killing several hundred and igniting the spark which ultimately led to the Russian Revolution of 1917.  The day is known as "Bloody Sunday."

A scene from a 1925 Russian movie about "Bloody Sunday" when the troops fired upon unarmed civilians at the Winter Palace/Wikimedia Commons

The first movement is entitled "The Palace Square," and begins with an almost inaudible hum from the cellos for several minutes before the violas join in, strengthened by dual harps which, combined, present increasing anxiety and anticipation.  The tempo significantly expands in the second movement, "The Ninth of January," diminishes, and then becomes louder later on. The collision of discordant instrument sounds is frequently heard throughout. 

The music grows more vigorous over movements, becoming almost painfully loud as the killings are realized by listeners.  The work contains so many powerful clashes, it seemed that the murders of protestors did not cease until near the end of the work.

The third movement, "In Memoriam," a "threnody," with horns, cellos, basses, and brass, honors the memory of all oppressed.  Like a razor's slice, the fourth and short final movement is "The Tocsin," the sounding of an alarm bell.

The ending is abrupt and took the audience by surprise, for just a few solo claps were heard in the chamber, soon followed by a burst of wild applause as the realization the symphony had ended and the cessation of the music was not a  movement transition, after all.

Three curtain calls summoned the conductor back to the stage, and he eagerly shared acclaim with orchestra members.

I have toyed with the idea of traveling to Russia this summer, attracted by the recent completion of Robert Massie's Catherine the Great.  Having been enraptured many years ago by his Nicholas and Alexandra, and starting his Peter the Great, after spending the evening with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and all the Russians, I ask myself:  Whom am I kidding?

BSO concerts coming up at Strathmore:

Apr. 11, 8 p.m.
Bond and Beyond: 50 years of 007

Michael Krajewski, conductor
Debbie Gravitte, vocalist

Apr. 19, 8:15 p.m.

Wagner: A Composer Fit for a King - Off The Cuff

Marin Alsop, conductor
Didi Balle, writer and director

Wagner - Excerpts from various works

Apr. 27, 8 p.m.

Midori

Gilbert Varga, conductor
Midori, violin

Bartók - Violin Concerto No. 2
Brahms - Symphony No. 1

May 2, 8 p.m.

Time for Three

Marin Alsop, conductor
Zachary DePue, violin
Nicolas Kendall, violin
Ranaan Meyer, double bass

John Adams - Shaker Loops
Jennifer Higdon - Concerto 4-3
Prokofiev - Symphony No. 4

May 11, 8 p.m.

Chaplin's Masterpiece: Modern Times

Marin Alsop, conductor

Chaplin - Modern Times

May 25, 8 p.m.

Romeo & Juliet

Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Jean-Philippe Collard, piano

 

Narong Prangcharoen - Phenomenon
Saint-Saëns - Piano Concerto No. 3
Prokofiev - Selections from Romeo and Juliet

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Baltimore Symphony Orchestra rocks with Rachmaninoff

Sergei Romaninoff, age 12/Wikimedia Commons

To hear guest pianist Garrick Ohlsson play Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto is to enjoy a sensual experience which is not plentiful enough in anyone’s life. 

At Strathmore last weekend, music lovers sat like statues without moving while Ohlsson and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra played what is considered one of the most, if not the most, difficult of all piano concertos,  which was also the composer's (1873-1943) favorite piano concerto.

Garrick Ohlsson/instantencore.com

Some audience members draped over railings, others leaned forward with elbows on knees, chins resting on palms, hypnotized and afraid they might miss one of the many notes.  Equally as spellbound as their parents and grandparents were the young people who attended.

The hands of the pianist, who was the first American to win the International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition (1970), raced up and down the keyboard all night, crossing each other and moving almost as quickly as a hummingbird's wings.  

Ohlsson said later that memorization plays no role in his performance for he’s played Rach 3 “thousands of times,” and it has become part of his persona. His brain and fingers know what to do.

Maestro Marin Alsop and the orchestra complemented the pianist splendidly, and it was no surprise at the end when audience members, who filled the house, leaped up, applauding madly and shouting "Bravo" to four encores.

Conductor Marin Alsop/Opus 3 Artists

In a 30-minute conversation with audience members afterwards, Conductor Alsop said enthusiasm for the production helps her determine future programming, and the crowd cheered. 

Ohlsson began studies at Julliard when he was 13, and heard "Rach 3" the next year.   His teacher ordered him to play it at age 15 to avoid intimidation, he said.

Alsop and Ohlsson answered questions from the audience, bantering back and forth, quite at ease with themselves and each other. Approximately half the Strathmore house stayed late to listen.

Oh!  Crusted tilapia, couscous, and salad for $19.95 at the Strathmore restaurant. Great price and delicious, but the meal's pleasure is diluted by having to eat it on your lap because of insufficient tables and chairs.  Please, Strathmore.

Free parking at the Metro parking garage next door!

BSO concerts coming up at Strathmore:

Jan. 24:  Hairspray in Concert, 8 p.m.

Feb. 2:  Pictures at an Exhibition, 8 p.m. (Hindemith, Mozart, Mussorgsky by Ravel)

Feb. 7:  Stephen Hough plays Liszt

And on March 4 Ohlsson joins the Iceland Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center to play Grieg's Piano Concerto No. 1.


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