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SYMPHONY REVIEW Fond Adiós to Larrocha; Hello, Vänskä November 8, 2002
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By William Wellborn
Last week marked the San Francisco farewell of the venerable Spanish pianist Alicia de Larrocha, a favorite of Bay Area audiences for nearly fifty years. The 79-year-old pianist, who had announced her decision to retire at the end of this season, last Friday evening showed why and how she has sustained a remarkably successful performing career of 75 years (yes, her first concert was at the age of 5!). The concert also featured the San Francisco Symphony debut of the Finnish conductor Osmo Vänskä, a clarinetist turned conductor who has carved out an impressive international reputation. After an impeccable collaborator with Larrocha in the Haydn Concerto in D and the Falla Nights in the Garden of Spain, Vänskä unleashed a searing account of Nielsen's rarely-heard Symphony No. 3, the "Sinfonia espansiva."
The orchestra accorded Larrocha the rare honor of standing to greet her entrance to the stage, and the audience, not surprisingly, offered her a standing ovation when she finished her portion of the program. She began with a somewhat muted tone, but quickly warmed to deliver a spirited and stylish rendition of Haydn's most popular concerto. If Larrocha's technique is not quite as flawless as it once was, the occasional (and it was a very occasional) smudge seemed a small price to pay. In return, one heard more than ample evidence of the spirit and rhythmic vitality that have always characterized her playing. The second movement was a model of elegance and grace, with both tone and phrasing etched with clarity and taste. The high-spirited romp of the last movement leaned toward understatement but the overall effect was one of poise and cool charm. Throughout the Haydn, Vänskä secured precise and incisive playing from the members of the orchestra, providing not merely stylish support, but a true collaboration.
Manuel de Falla's Nights in the Garden of Spain is not a concerto in the strictest sense — the piano writing is more often a prominent obbligato, rather than soloistic in nature. Larrocha has been a noted exponent of the work and indeed has been an unchallenged authority in the realm of Spanish music for the last 40 years. In this repertoire, she excels and competes primarily with herself: if her earlier performances focused more on passion and sensuality, she now brings an added layer of dignity and nobility to this music. Vänskä did not quite capture the evocative nature of the opening of the piece, but the initial heavy-handedness soon gave way to a lush and passionate reading. He secured colorful playing especially from the winds, and in the final movement dug deeply into the rhythm of the piece. Vänskä's conducting style and podium manner are animated, at times even athletic, but he has a clear beat and an expressive gesture which is always in the service of the music.
After intermission Vänskä and the San Francisco Symphony performed the seldom-encountered Symphony no. 3, the "Sinfonia espansiva" by Danish composer Carl Nielsen. The symphony alternates sections of bombast with a Scandinavian sort of Gemütlichkeit, and Vänskä's musical conviction made a persuasive case for the work. In the fourth movement, however, bombast certainly outweighs content, the musical material wearing thin upon repetition. The first movement began at white heat and stayed there, exploding into a sort of Dionysian (or overblown, depending on your viewpoint) waltz. Vänskä's approach was both compelling and propelling, sweeping the listener along with a rich and burnished orchestral sound, most notably in the brass section. The second movement began also with a feeling of expansiveness, as if evoking the vision of a vast and austere landscape. Prominent in this movement was a density of orchestral sound, as Vänskä effectively balanced a lush and vibrant string sound against the brighter sound of the winds and brass. A novelty of this movement is the addition of solo soprano and baritone voices, singing on a wordless "ah" toward the close of the movement. Baritone Hugh Russell offered warm and rich singing, while Twyla Robinson's silvery soprano had a slight edge that was less appealing at times. The third movement is a bit slower than a traditional scherzo, but the function is similar. Vänskä captured most effectively the dual nature of this music, which is at once both irrepressibly good-natured and sardonic. Special mention must also be made of the expressive playing of Acting Associate Principal oboist Nathan Hughes. The final movement is the weakest, mixing bucolic qualities with a kind of patriotic grandiosity in a mix that suggests both bombast and blather. Having said that, it must be admitted that Vänskä played this music to the hilt (as it must be), painting in broad strokes, but also bringing out many details of orchestral color. The overall effect was exciting and Vänskä certainly did get the most from the musicians. If we must bid farewell to Larrocha, we can offer our greetings to Vänskä whom we would like to hear again.
(Pianist William Wellborn performs and lectures in the United States and Europe, and from 1995-97 was host of the program "Piano Legacy" on San Francisco station KDFC. Wellborn is on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory, where he teaches courses in piano, piano history, and opera.)
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Alicia de Larrocha
Osmo Vänskä