Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Hartford, CT
November 11–13, 2016
by Michael J. Moran
For the second “Masterworks” program of its 73rd season, the
HSO presented a full concert of music by Johannes Brahms, whom their web site
calls “one of the most captivating masters of musical form” and quotes as
saying, “It is not hard to compose, but what is fabulously hard is to leave the
superfluous notes under the table.” No superfluous notes could be heard in this
rewarding program.
HSO Music Director Carolyn Kuan opened it not with one of
Brahms’ two concert overtures but with two of his 21 Hungarian Dances. Arranged
for orchestra from his original piano settings of traditional Gypsy melodies,
these were the most popular of all Brahms’ works during his lifetime. The HSO
gave bracing accounts of the famous fifth and less familiar seventh
dances.
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| Cho-Liang Lin |
World-class violinist Cho-Liang Lin was featured next in one
of the cornerstones of the classical repertoire, Brahms’ Violin Concerto. Like
Kuan, a native of Taiwan, Lin never achieved the superstar status of the older
Itzhak Perlman or the younger Joshua Bell, but it would be hard to imagine a
better performance of this rapturous yet challenging masterpiece. A moderate
tempo proved ideal for the long opening movement, where Lin’s burnished tone
reflected both technical mastery and emotional depth. He played the ravishing
slow movement with sensitivity and the lively Gypsy-flavored finale with flair,
while conductor and orchestra were in full-bodied rapport throughout.
A commanding rendition of Brahms’ fourth and final symphony
brought the program to a somber close. The symphony opens with a quiet
melancholy theme, but the first movement builds to a dramatic conclusion. The
slow second movement is dark and funereal, while the third movement is a bright
dance-like scherzo. The finale is a passacaglia, or variations on a short
theme, that reaches a shattering climax.
Kuan’s urgent leadership drew passionate commitment from her
musicians and made it clear why the audience at the work’s Vienna premiere in
1897 was so moved when the composer made his final public appearance there less
than a month before he passed away.
