RSS 2.0 FeedMay 20, 2009, Cover Stories, Classical
Latvian violinist scores big
Angry double stops led into an ending that demonstrated Skride's fierce skills. She reveled in the final movement like a gymnast who knew she had won the gold.
Beethoven and Brahms were workhorses. They were prolific and it's easy to pigeon-hole their output. Last weekend, the Kansas City Symphony presented an evening of Beethoven and Brahms with a Shostakovich shocker.
I'm not a huge Beethoven fan and the only pieces I truly like by him are his late string quartets; but I was pleasantly surprised by the Overture to Coriolan, Op. 62. It was a crisp and articulate interpretation that summed up the heroic action in eight minutes. Instead of a rambling, long winded symphony with endless transitions and recapitulations, the overture tidily said what it needed to say in an interesting way. The conductor, Welshman Grant Llewellyn, carefully laid the foundation for the orchestra. The effect was a dramatic and dynamic opener.
Sounding even more like Beethoven to me, was the Brahms Serenade No. 1 in D Major, Op. 11. This selection comes from a young Brahms who was looking back to the works of Beethoven. There were some interesting ideas presented, like the double minuet movement, but the overall effect was traditional and heavy and didn't seem to live up to its title of a 'serenade.'
The orchestra did an admirable job with this work, considering the enthusiastic applause between each movement from one excited patron. The woodwinds were frequently featured - which wasn't entirely surprising as this piece originated as a nonet for flute, two clarinets, bassoon, horn and strings. It was revised by Brahms a few years later for full orchestra. The Kansas City Symphony has an exquisite woodwind and horn section. The players are skilled and never disappoint. But, personally, I would have preferred to hear this selection as a lighter, brighter piece as Brahms originally intended.
Setting the two German uber- composers aside, the Concerto in A minor for Violin and Orchestra by Dmitri Shostakovich was undeniably the best selection on the program.
Wearing a red satin strapless gown and playing a Stradivarius "Wilhelmj" violin, young Latvian soloist, Baiba Skride played with restrained purity. She used vibrato judiciously and pushed and pulled her bow with weighted intensity. She scrubbed and slid, and then ascended to the stratosphere on a razor thin edge of string. Her instrument, built in 1725, had a "shy" quality and didn't have the volume it needed at times to balance the orchestra. Nevertheless, her heart and soul were devoted to the piece and it spoke.
The Concerto in A Minor, like many of Shostakovich's works, reflects the censure he received from the Stalin Regime. Skride was able to capture the frustration, the angst and the glimmer of hope to perfection. It is not a "pretty" piece. In some ways, it is a piece that speaks of a Depression or other lifetime hardships. The low strings are featured prominently throughout, leading in with the sinister theme, and reemerging as the voice of the regime. The lonely violinist then bended and pulled the angular melody up and down, representing the perspective of the composer behind the iron curtain.
Among the notable highlights was the violin and English horn duet in the third movement. The instruments were remarkably compatible. The sequence built to a climax of yearning and striving that never fully triumphed, but continued to persevere. The pizzicato section was carefully executed to perfection.
Angry double stops led into an ending that demonstrated Skride's fierce skills. She reveled in the final movement like a gymnast who knew she had won the gold. The velocity exhibited by the orchestra and soloist together was mind blowing to this reviewer.
Anyone familiar with Shostakovich would not have heard anything they weren't expecting. Yes, he is formulaic but still manages to shed a beacon of light on an otherwise dark period of European history - one that we can still learn from and hope to never repeat.
REVIEW:
Kansas City Symphony
Beethoven and Brahms
with Baiba Skride, violin
Friday, May 15, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009. (Reviewed)
Lyric Theatre
10th and Central, Downtown Kansas City, MO
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Carlsen Center at JCCC, Overland Park, KS
www.kcsymphony.org
Classical, Vocal and Theatre Contributor
Megan Browne Helm grew up singing, dancing and acting. Inspired by Emma Kirkby as a high school student in St. Louis she went on to study voice and sing with the Collegium Musicum at the Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio where she also had a radio show of contemporary classical music on WOBC. At the University of Kansas she had the pleasure of working with former Kings’ Singer, Simon Carrington in his Collegium Musicum and Oread consort. Years later, she was a choral fellow at the Yale School of Music’s Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. She is currently singing with the Kansas City Symphony Chorus under the direction of Charles Bruffy.
As a freelance music and culture writer her work can be found on KCMetropolis.org, presentmagazine.com, the Lawrence Journal World, Shawnee Magazine, Leawood Lifestyle Magazine and KC Parent. She was one of 26 journalists in the country chosen as a NEA Institute Fellow for Classical Music and Opera at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Her current interest is how classical music remains relevant through active collaborations with artists in different fields, including science. She also sees a connection between classical music, travel and food as a way to engage all of the senses in a 360 degree cultural experience. She blogs at raworganum.wordpress.com.
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