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SYMPHONY REVIEW
November 19, 2004
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By Bettina Mussumeli
Friday evening at Davies Hall, conductor Yuri Temirkanov and the St.
Petersburg Philharmonic captivated their audience from the opening bar of
Prokoviev's “Classical” Symphony. It was indeed a pleasure to hear this
wonderful orchestra practice a restraint of sound and preserve a perfect
transparency in a work that has become more and more merely a showpiece for so many orchestras.
Maestro Temirkanov wasted no time in establishing his priorities as a
conductor. As the orchestra seemed quite able to hold itself together on its
own, much like a fine-tuned chamber orchestra, Temirkanov was free to
guide the group exclusively in the shaping and phrasing of the music
instead of beating time. His gestures brought out cross rhythms and off
beats, delineated the musical highs and lows, and succeeded in inviting both
musicians and audience members to experience fully the youthful exuberance
of the score. Approaching this symphony with an appropriate light touch
allowed the listener better to appreciate Prokofiev's prowess as both an
orchestrator and an innovator, capturing the essence of the classical style
while using a newer twentieth-century vocabulary. The winds (many of whom seemed to be not much older then students) were impeccable, and they
performed Prokofiev's virtuoso writing with wit and aplomb. It was an
enormously satisfying performance, and absolutely convincing in both choices of style, sound and color.
In contrast, the Dvorák Symphony No.8 highlighted the Russian orchestrašs
ultra-warm, lush sound. One can only admire Temirkanov and the Philharmonic for the admirable restraint in avoiding the temptations to indulge in the cliches this much-abused symphony can present. This performance was cohesive and utterly captivating. The introduction was beautifully stated by the cellos, while the brass solos were exceptional; and even in their enormity, their sound never overpowered the strings. (As with many orchestras, St. Petersburg have returned to the once common practice of dividing the violins and placing the cellos to the left of the first
violins, with decidedly felicitous results.)
Vadim Repin joined the Philharmonic for the Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 1. Interestingly this concerto was not so well received at its first performance, the Parisian critics calling it too romantic and not modern enough. Repin's performance certainly belied this criticism, as he never succumbed to sentimentalism. His astounding technical prowess has not dominated his musicality. The brooding darkness he brought to the opening sections of the outer movements dramatically contrasted with the electric qualities of the inner Scherzo. The mood of the era was brought perfectly to the forefront, and Repin was able to bring a muti-faceted character to the work. Having followed him through the years (I had the pleasure of hearing him play in Switzerland at the very start of his career), I was extremely impressed by the direction of Repin's musical growth. His encore of the Ysaye Ballade for solo violin was about as good as it gets, and well merited the enthusiastic standing ovation it received. The Orchestra also did not skimp on encores, earning their own well deserved standing ovation by providing two delightfully performed excerpts from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker. Even with these musical chestnuts, the St. Petersburg proved to be a class apart and truly a most individual, unique orchestra.
(Bettina Mussumeli is a professor of violin at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and holds a degree from the Juilliard School.)
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Vadim Repin