San Francisco Classical Voice

SYMPHONY REVIEW

The French Connection?

May 9, 2004

Lynn Harrell

By John Lutterman

Last week's concerts by the San Francisco Symphony served up three works associated with musical life in Paris: Debussy's ”Rondes de printemps,” Prokofiev's Sinfonia Concertante, and César Franck's Symphony in d minor. Michael Tilson Thomas and the orchestra are exceptionally well-suited to this repertoire and the indefatigable cellist Lynn Harrell was soloist in the Prokofiev. It was gratifying to see the large, enthusiastic audience that the crowd-pleasing program drew to Saturday's performance, though it did make finding a place to park quite difficult.

The ”Rondes de printemps,” which is part of the trilogy of movements comprising Debussy's Images pour orchestre of 1909, was an apt concert-opener, and considering its epigraph, “Cheers for May, welcome to May with its wild banner,” served as a timely herald. The performance was thoroughly enjoyable, if a bit too spring-like, in light of Debussy's observation that “the rough sonorities of certain passages suggest to some people icy blasts more than the gentle breezes of spring.” Tilson Thomas chose a luxuriant, if somewhat staid, laid back approach, though the violins achieved admirably sweeping gestures that kept a sense of momentum going.

Prokofiev's Sinfonia Concertante, for cello and orchestra, is an effective but rather long, convoluted work, with an equally long and convoluted history. Inspired by the playing of his countryman and fellow exile, Gregor Piatigorsky, the composer began work on a cello concerto in the early 1930's, near the end of his fifteen-year sojourn in Paris, but seems quickly to have lost enthusiasm for the project. An early version of the Concerto in e minor, as it was then known, was premiered in 1938, but it was not well received and was forgotten until 1947, when Rostropovich, then a young lion of the Soviet music world, revived it. Inspired by Rostropovich, who soon became his close friend, student and champion, Prokofiev began work on a series of substantial revisions, the last of which was finished in 1952, just a few months before his death in March, 1953. Rostropovich worked closely with the composer on these revisions, and is credited with creating much of the passage-work in the notoriously difficult solo part.

Shifting the emphasis

Rather than referring to the eighteenth-century genre of works for two or more soloists and orchestra, the title by which the piece is known today reflects the symphonic ambitions of the work. The soloist plays almost continually, and the relationship between soloist and orchestra is much more complex than the adversarial juxtaposition characteristic of most concertos. Since the work lasts some forty minutes, the performer is faced with an ordeal of marathon proportions.

Harrell met the athletic challenges of the work with great aplomb. One of the hallmarks of his playing has always been the sense of effortless command that he manages to convey. This presents an odd paradox, however; much of the effect of a work like the Sinfonia Concertante derives from hearing and seeing the soloist grappling with and eventually overcoming difficult challenges. When overcoming them appears to be so effortless, so predictable, there is a risk that much of the dramatic power of the work will be lost. But it is difficult to fault playing of this caliber; his performance Saturday was masterful and the audience was justly appreciative.

Both orchestra and soloist were impressive in Saturday's performance, although Harrell's approach was somewhat aloof and uninflected. As a result, the sense of Prokofiev's dark, ironic wit was missing much of the time. His rich, full sound in many of the passionate lyrical passages was marred by a mannered, excessive use of portato, though in the final movement Harrell opened up and his playing really began to sing.

César Franck's Symphony in d minor received the most thoroughly enjoyable performance of the evening. The winds were superb, as usual, textures were well balanced, and the strings, with the exception of a lone cellist, played with what appeared to be real passion. Franck's music is exceptionally sensual, and if the orchestra and conductor were faking all of those orgasmic climaxes, they were certainly convincing. It's only natural to expect that a warhorse like this would receive a well-polished rendition, but it was a pleasant surprise to hear both orchestra and conductor throw themselves into their performance with such evident zeal and commitment.