A Musical Mismatch

After James Levine bowed out of the BSO's 2006 American Tour due to a shoulder injury resulting from a fall onstage in early March, a replacement was quickly found for the orchestra's scheduled appearance at Carnegie Hall the following Monday. The conductor chosen to fill in for a concert which included Schoenberg's First Chamber Symphony and Beethoven's Ninth was the estimable Marek Janowski, the current musical director of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.

Here was a great orchestra paired with a great conductor. However, the result sounded like a mismatch. Mr. Levine had no doubt prepared the BSO extensively, and one sensed in the Beethoven a lack of communication between players and conductor. For the Schoenberg to be the highlight of such a program was a severe disappointment, especially given the dramatically raised price of admission.

Janowski gave Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony No. 1 the perverse attention to detail that an expressionist work like this merits. This fascinating one-movement work dates from relatively early in the composer's career, around the time of his immersion in the post-romantic idiom that pervades such works as Verklärte Nachtand Gurrelieder. Although performed as a single-movement, it is further subdivided into five through-composed movements. The composer revisited the symphony in 1939 and produced a version for full orchestra. Leading the BSO in the re-orchestrated version, Janowski wisely kept the volume at a level where the various thematic strains could shine through. The first violin made a particularly strong impression, with an extremely tremulous vibrato. That said, the strings tended to sound on the whole a bit monochromatic. But aside from this there was little to complain of. In this piece, where the texture can change from thick to thin in a moment and melodies pile up and ramble on of their own accord, the winds struck a good balance with the often-harsh strings. The angular contours of the piece took on a sharp form from musicians playing at the top of their game, sounding full and strident. One speculated that the same ensemble could follow the work up with a performance of Scheherazade.  

After intermission came the Beethoven. The number of musicians on stage grew and the bleachers teamed with members of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. In the first movement, the horns made a ghostly entrance while around them the strings built to a solid crescendo. Section by section, it was a dynamic performance marked by Janowski's tendency to ease tension at the end of phrases. The horns gave a pensive reading, while the strings sounded impulsive. And while he highlighted certain descending figures, other more central ones got lost in a flurry. The bass was solid and reliable, but the pervasive percussion was a tad to enthusiastic. At times, the winds hovered in a barely audible zone and some texture was lost.

In the second movement, Janowski proved himself a much more energetic maestro than Levine, who lends his interpretive stamp on a piece mostly during rehearsals. He flapped around vigorously urging the violins for something they couldn't quite provide. Again, the overzealous drummer ensured that the audience was wide-awake. After a fairly predictably opening movement, Janowski took the symphony at break-neck speed. Yes, the music is thrilling, but the gallop at which Janowski took it seemed inappropriate. Without time to breathe and rushing though measure after measure, the winds sounded as mechanical as a video-game soundtrack. One lamented that with the extreme velocity of the performance that much of the beautiful detail was lost. Even in the lyrical third movement, Janowski was intent on racing though. One lamented the lack of emotional connectedness in a movement in which the music seemed to climax in one big yawn.

The musicians too seemed a bit caught off-guard that their conductor was leading a triathlon. As they opened the final movement at break-neck speed, the horns were ill-coordinated and muddled. While the strings were ample, the basses could've started on the Ode a bit more softly. While the movement hurdled towards its inevitable climax, there was little tension to sustain the listener. Tenor Clifton Forbis charged forth in a commanding (if slightly hoarse) voice. The other soloists – Soprano Christine Brewer, Mezzo Jill Grove and Bass Albert Dohmen turned out solid accounts. Of the bunch, Dohmen, hard to hear at times, was least impressive. But while the soloists were mostly easily heard over the massive and well-trained chorus, they often were shouting at each other rather than singing together. For the very last round of the "Ode," Janowski, possibly aware that he hadn't attained the level of emotional intensity he'd been aiming for, harnessed the entire force for one final push. It sounded forced and any emotional impact it made was easily forgotten.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra

Monday, March 6, 2006 at 8PM

Carnegie Hall