Tanglewood, Lenox, MA
July 20-21, 2019
by Michael J. Moran
The energizing presence of the BSO’s young Music Director
brings a special excitement to Tanglewood, especially when he’s joined by
world-class vocal and instrumental soloists. All this and a major world
premiere made for two memorable concerts this past weekend.
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| Andris Nelsons |
On Saturday evening Andris Nelsons opened his program with a
glowing account of Elgar’s masterful 1899 “Enigma” Variations on an Original
Theme, which put the composer on the musical map at age 42. With varied tempos
and virtuosic orchestrations, its fourteen variations suggest how different
acquaintances of Elgar, from his wife to his publisher, might have played the
theme. The BSO and their conductor probed its emotional depths with polish and
conviction.
Intermission was followed by the world premiere of “The
Brightness of Light,” a cycle of twelve songs for soprano, baritone, and
orchestra by Missouri-born composer Kevin Puts, whose first opera, “Silent
Night,” won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize. The text is drawn from letters between the
American painter Georgia O’Keefe and her mentor-lover-husband, German-born
photographer and gallerist Alfred Stieglitz, 23 years her senior. Their
complex, shifting relationship, in which she gradually assumes the upper hand,
is movingly conveyed by the colorful and evocative score.
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| Renee Fleming |
Renee Fleming was radiant and vulnerable as O’Keefe, while
Rod Gilfry was alternately avuncular and anguished as Stieglitz. Video
projections by Wendall K. Harrington of works by both artists and their
handwritten letters added powerful atmosphere. James Darrah staged and directed
the presentation with sensitivity. Nelsons led a mesmerizing performance of a
piece that should be widely heard.
On Sunday afternoon popular guest pianist Jean-Yves
Thibaudet was right at home in idiomatic renditions of Gershwin’s Piano
Concerto and Variations on “I Got Rhythm” for piano and orchestra. The
French-born soloist’s high comfort level with this jazz-flavored repertoire came
as no surprise to listeners who know his perceptive recordings of music by Duke
Ellington and Bill Evans. Nelsons and the BSO were equally attuned partners,
with particularly soulful work from principal trumpet Thomas Rolfs in the
concerto’s blues-inflected central nocturne.
An exciting version of Stravinsky’s complete 1911 ballet
“Petrushka” completed the program after intermission. Latvian-born Nelsons has
the folk-inspired Russian contours of this music in his blood. Retiring bass
clarinetist Craig Nordstrom, whose fluid playing was notable in several of the
ballet’s four scenes, was honored for his distinguished 40-year career with the
BSO.
