Avery Fisher Hall, New York; October 30, 2013—Maurice Ravel: Mother Goose Suite; Esa-Pekka Salonen: Violin Concerto “Out of Nowhere”; Jean Sibelius: Symphony No. 5
Ravel’s Mother Goose suite at first seemed a peculiar concert opener—the quiet strains of the Sleeping Beauty Pavane exposed much coughing from the not-quite-yet settled Avery Fisher Hall audience. But soon the delicate shadings of Ravel’s scoring cast their spell, which was made more magical by the Philharmonic’s exquisitely nuanced playing under Esa-Pekka Salonen’s direction. The woodwinds produced delightfully pungent sounds (especially the bassoon in Beauty and the Beast), while the strings were simply beguiling. Watching Salonen’s smoothly refined, near-balletic hand movements (he used no baton) was a lesson in conductorial finesse.
Leila Josefowicz appeared in a bright yellow dress to perform Salonen’s highly original and stunning Violin Concerto, and launched into the formidable solo part with a confidence born of mastery. Salonen wrote the work for Josefowicz, who gave the premiere performance and recording, and has been playing it around the world. I still marvel at her playing from memory this complex, note-laden music—impressive enough in the first movement, “Mirage”, which begins with the violin executing a long, seemingly improvised passage that emerges from “Out of nowhere” (to quote the work’s subtitle). But it becomes astounding in the “Pulse II” third movement, with its dizzying runs and leaps, along with triple and quadruple stops, all at often breathtaking speed. There’s a bit of a break for the soloist in the finale, “Adieu”, which quite unusually ends the concerto in a slow, somber vein. Even here, Josefowicz met challenges of texture and intonation, as Salonen at times demanded serene, at times haunting and despairing sounds from the instrument. Led by the composer, the Philharmonic delivered a tour-de-force performance of this strenuous and fascinating score. Josefowicz remained on top of her game throughout, clearly enjoying herself—something the audience picked up on, and they responded accordingly with a standing ovation requiring four curtain calls.
After intermission came the Sibelius Fifth Symphony, a work that Salonen recorded not very impressively early in his career. He righted that misstep in spades with this scintillating performance, leading an incisive, energized rendition of the first movement. The Philharmonic strings again impressed in the music’s buzzing ostinatos, while the conductor expertly built up the great climax and generated thrilling momentum at the movement’s close. As in the concerto, the conductor wielded a baton to draw powerful and impeccable playing from the orchestra. It was interesting to hear the second movement done with such engaging variety of mood and tempo, revealing Sibelius’ debt to Beethoven.
But it was in the finale where Salonen really distinguished himself, slowing the pace for the great “Thor swinging his hammer” theme, thereby providing an opportunity for the Philharmonic horns to make robust, beautiful sounds, only marred by an exposed wrong note near the end of the passage. No matter: Salonen’s tremendous unfolding of the final peroration made up for it, and it was breathtaking to see and hear him and the orchestra deliver the mighty last six chords with exacting precision. The audience roared its approval.
