San Francisco Classical Voice

The Czech Philharmonic came to Davies Hall on Sunday night for magnificent all-Czech program culminating in a solid and convincing performance of Dvorák's Symphony No. 7 in D Minor. Led by the famed pianist-turned-conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy, Chief Conductor of the group since 1998, the almost all-male musicians play the music of their homeland with all the assurance and élan one might hope for. Yet there was a surprising brightness, even to the point of brashness (dare one say raucousness?), in their playing that belied any expectation of a burnished, dignified, old-world sound. This is after all, the orchestra founded by Anton“n Dvorák over a century ago,

Less popular but not less tuneful than Dvorák's "New World" Symphony, the Seventh is a more turbulent work dating from a troubled time in the composer's life. Yet his characteristic good nature and warmth prevail. The opening Allegro maestoso unfolds a rich complex of ideas that are skillfully developed in the manner of Dvorák's idol, Beethoven, but without adopting the latter's dark moods of angry defiance. The Adagio brings an equal wealth of lovely motives, flowing easily like a gentle folksong, luxuriously scored. The surprisingly somber scherzo yields to tunefully powerful finale. The orchestral playing was finely disciplined throughout, with impressive precision and aggressive energy.

Ashkenazy led with good control, using crisp gestures that seemed more intuitive than technically honed. His shaping of phrases was clean and effective, if sometimes rigid and effortful characteristics that may account for the surprising hard-edged quality of the ensemble's sound, particularly in the winds.

The program began with Bohuslav Martinu's picturesque and Respighi-like suite entitled The Frescoes of Piero della Francesca, inspired by paintings by the Renaissance master that adorn the Church of Saint Francesca at Arezzo. The first of the three movements was the most effective, with shimmering, Straussian moments featuring multiple violin solos, virtuosically played, leading to a broadly ingratiating, Hollywood-style tune.

Adding spice to the program was a glorious performance of music from Jánacek's 1923 fairy tale opera The Cunning Little Vixen, in the form of a two-movement suite arranged by the famed conductor Václav Talich. The first movement features a wryly beautiful violin solo evoking a sort of twisted waltz, developing into sweeping and majestic orchestral waves washing over an acerbic and melancholic undertow. A Debussy-inspired harp and percussion passage opens the second movement, yielding to a blazing trumpet melody over bustling string figuration and a sparkling conclusion. As an encore, Ashkenazy offered an oddly brittle rendition of Dvorák's Slavonic Dance in E Minor from Opus 72.

(Clifford (Kip) Cranna is Musical Administrator of the San Francisco Opera, Program Advisor for the Carmel Bach Festival, and frequent lecuturer on Music Appreciation.)

©2000 Clifford (Kip) Cranna, all rights reserved