DSO and van Zweden reunite for blazing Shostakovich
The Meyerson Symphony Center hosted a packed house on Thursday eager to welcome Jaap van Zweden’s return, as the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s emeritus music director led a program of Prokofiev, Mozart and Shostakovich.
Right from the beginning, van Zweden stood poised for action, crouching slightly and urging the orchestra onward with a range of bold and subtle gestures. The rapid tempo and exaggerated dynamics of the first movement of Prokofiev’s “Classical” symphony underlined Prokofiev’s ironic take on the style of Haydn, and van Zweden’s direction perfectly elicited this sardonic atmosphere from the DSO.
The delicate slow movement provided suitable contrast, featuring an almost romantic descending melody that van Zweden encouraged the violins to imbue with just the right hint of mock pathos. The scherzo was similarly polite, its stately opening waggishly undermined by unexpected harmonic detours and van Zweden’s aptly overstated dynamics.
The finale saw a return to the witty festivity of the opening as the various sections of the DSO tossed and traded motifs amid the bustling, frenetic tempo, punctuating the movement with a comically abrupt ending.
Conrad Tao was the featured soloist in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major. The orchestra’s introduction under van Zweden ideally set up Tao’s entrance. The playing of the soloist and the DSO demonstrated Mozart’s effective writing for ensemble and soloist; the rippling piano was always prominent when it needed to be, but allowed space for the orchestra when the group took the lead.
Tao’s playing was an absolute delight, capturing Mozart’s sparkling clarity without being overly flashy, yet blending successfully with the orchestra. His solo turn during the cadenza brought a further measure of lyricism into the otherwise effervescent piano part that was carried forward into the ensuing Adagio as the piano and orchestra successively exchanged a melancholy theme.
The exuberance of the spirited finale recalled that of the Prokofiev symphony. Here, Tao displayed an intensity at the keyboard matching that of van Zweden on the podium as the piano and the larger DSO dashed their way through the alternately recurring themes leading to the finale’s robust conclusion.
The second half of the program consisted of Shostakovich’s renowned Symphony No. 5. The transformation of the symphony’s character through struggle, tragedy and eventual triumph has long been credited with ushering the composer back into the favor of Stalin and Soviet authorities, but more recent assessments have questioned the sincerity of the symphony’s climax, alleging an implicit critique of the Soviet system in the finale’s forced and hollow celebratory rhetoric. As before, van Zweden’s vigorous presence on the podium provided the impetus that propelled the DSO forward.
The DSO program notes describe the first movement as conveying a crisis, and the intense opening theme sounded by the strings carried an urgency that was amplified by van Zweden’s tempo, faster than is typical. Van Zweden increased the tempo further into the development section, accentuating the martial character implied by the low brass and, later, trumpets and snare drums, before culminating in the almost ear-splitting recapitulation, marked by the orchestra’s frightening unison rendition of the movement’s principal theme.
The jaunty character of the Scherzo that followed provided a respite from the intensity of the first movement. Van Zweden’s clipped direction and brisk tempo helped bring out the movement’s humor, which Shostakovich undermines with quirky melodies for winds and brass that verge on the grotesque.
The Largo movement, built around the strings, embodied a sense of grief following the crisis, moving from its mournful opening through episodes of anguish and despondence before concluding with fatalistic acquiescence. Halfway through, the intense mood was given a respite through a brief yet poignant duet between flutists David Buck and Hayley Grainger, and harpist Emily Levin.
In the finale, the entire orchestra displayed the same level of focus and engagement as van Zweden, closely following his direction as he initiated the shrill opening of the finale and spurred its tempo to an almost dizzying pace, recalling the development section of the first movement. An abrupt, bellicose fanfare punctuated by a tam-tam brought the activity to a virtual standstill, introducing an extended, meditative interlude.
The coda stood in stark contrast to the two previous episodes of the finale, marked by a slow, plodding and mechanical tempo in which the winds sounded a folk-like melody before being joined by the strings as they increased the mounting tension with their embellishment of the folk tune. The climactic fanfare that signaled the resolution to the major key had all the hallmarks of victory, yet the persistence of the slow tempo under van Zweden’s control instilled ambiguity in what sounded like an otherwise exultant conclusion.
There was no ambiguity, however, about the success of the DSO’s stunning performance under van Zweden direction on Thursday night.
The program will be repeated 7:30 p.m. Saturday. dallassymphony.org
Leave a Comment
