Hartford Symphony, Hartford, CT
March 9–11, 2018
by Michael J. Moran
For the sixth “Masterworks Series” program of the HSO’s 74th
season, Music Director Carolyn Kuan presented three works by the two seminal
composers of Russian ballet music: two by Stravinsky, and one by Tchaikovsky.
Two were originally written as ballets, and the third was choreographed later.
The concert opened with an energetic account of Stravinsky’s
“Game of Cards,” a 1936 “ballet in three deals” which depicts a game of poker
in “Baden-Baden of the Romantic Age,” inspired by the composer’s memories of
Germany between the two world wars. The characters are all cards, and after
winning the first two deals, the joker is defeated in the third deal by a royal
flush of hearts. Kuan and the agile HSO winds, brass, and strings nicely
captured the mischievous spirit of the music.
The first half concluded with a dramatic rendition of
Stravinsky’s 1945 “Symphony in Three Movements,” reflecting the turmoil of
World War II and choreographed by George Balanchine for a 1972 New York City
Ballet Stravinsky festival. The propulsive rhythms of the outer movements and
the quiet charm of the inner slow movement sounded very danceable in this
measured performance, which built steadily to a shattering close. The
percussive harp and piano texture of the symphony contrasted sharply with the
more refined sound world of the preceding card game.
The highlight of the program came after intermission, when
the orchestra played seven selections from the first of Tchaikovsky’s three
great ballets, “Swan Lake,” for two of which they were joined by Boston Ballet
principal dancers Dalay Parrondo and Yuri Yanowsky. As the beautiful princess
Odette, transformed by a curse into a white swan, and the handsome prince
Siegfried, who falls in love with her as a woman, they graced the Belding stage
with first the rapture of new love and later its power to break the curse by
uniting them forever in death.
The energizing presence of the dancers drew carefully shaded
playing of deep emotion from the orchestra, lively and committed leadership
from Kuan, and enthusiastic applause from an audience that was clearly riveted
by a heady evening.