By Kathryn Olsen
This weekend, Utah Symphony is collaborating with a world-renowned conductor at Abravanel Hall in Salt Lake City in Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2. The program exclusively features 20th-Century conductors and even pairs Russian contemporaries Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich, but attention must also be paid to the newly-announced Creative Partner David Robertson. Maestro Robertson has been a guest conductor twice in the past, but this weekend welcomes him as the artist who will be a part of the Utah Symphony leadership team for a three-year tenure. Having interviewed him the day before the concert, I was thrilled to hear his interpretation of two unfamiliar works by two of my favorite composers and a work that I have enjoyed for years by a less-familiar composer.
The concert began with John Adams‘ The Chairman Dances, noted as a foxtrot for orchestra. This piece was written while Adams was writing Nixon in China, but is a stand-alone work in which Madame Mao arrives at the Presidential Banquet for President Richard Nixon and dances on her own in a way that excites the Chairman Mao Zedong into dancing with her. The symphony fuses the familiarity of a foxtrot style with undeniably Asian motifs so that tension and joy play off of each other. Robertson describes “the culmination of that and individual players who step to the fore and become the spokesperson or representative of the entire orchestra” and his attention to the conversations and “playful irony” of the music embolden nd enable the soloists’ passages. The piece, while featuring infamous characters, brings to mind a time when they were less powerful, but more free to express their nature.
The first half of the program finishes with the titular work of the evening. It is rare that I find myself speechless after a performance, but I admitted to my concert companion that I had no idea where to start with my assessment of Behzod Abduraimov‘s performance of the Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2 in g minor. Abduraimov opens the work with a pensive theme marked in the tempo of andantino. By the tempo, this is meant to be at a walking pace and it explores and muses as it gives way to a more forceful orchestral involvement. This soloist’s interpretation of these understated themes are reminiscent of a folk tune, as if a person were finding their way to a great destiny while humming to themselves along the way. The shift to a frenetic intensity and a solo passage that lasts five minutes defies description, but it prepares the audience well for the scherzo (“joke”) movement expected to play as vivace or “lively.” The second movement has a relentless sense of purpose and the remaining two movements rarely back down from this level before returning to a style that reminds the audience of tat opening theme. The amount of stamina and interepretive versatility that must be exercised by the pianist is difficult to articulate and Abduraimov’s rendition is phenomenal. He immerses himself absolutely when needed but also displays an intuitive connection with both the conductor and companion musicians of many kinds who join his journey throughout each movement. Conductor and soloist play off of each other extremely well, as it sometimes feels that the piano and the orchestra are simultaneously telling different tales, and their interplay grounds the connections between the ensemble and the soloist. After the audience gave this effort a prolonged and enthusiastic ovation, Abduraimov returned to the piano to play a delightfully mild-mannered and winking rendition of the Neapolitan Dance from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky‘s Swan Lake.
The Prokofiev was premiered in 1924, at the same time that a young conservatory student in Leningrad was working on his first major orchestral work. It is this Symphony No. 1 by Shostakovich that closes out this weekend’s program. Shostakovich and Prokofiev were contemporaries and it can be discerned in some of the stylings. Audience members do not need to be familiar with his later works to enjoy the variety of themes and moods, but there are shadows of anything from Tahiti Trot to Symphony No. 7 for veteran fans of his compositions.. There are hints of many influences, from Igor Stravinsky to Gustav Mahler, but it is delightful to see the seeds of Shostakoich’s later trademarks in this first symphony. Principal Keyboard Jason Hardink has played a significant part in other parts of the program, but it is in the second movement that his virtuosity is brought to the forefront. There are parts of the symphony where the composer’s past as an accompanist for silent movies is clear and Hardink and various sections of the orchestra enact something of a high-speed chase. The brass shine most with a famous fanfare amid all these scamperings. The strings skillfully shift between marches and waltzes and a typically soaring finale and the woodwinds are always there to enhance a melody or provide a counterpoint to another section’s approach to the story of a movement. One of the most stark contributions is the timpani solo that provides the foundation for the finale and it brings the audience to immediate attention in a way similar to Tchaikovsky’s use of a gong in the finale of his second symphony. These varied contributions are clear evidences of Robertson’s understanding of and appreciation for the work that he is conducting.
As the concert ended, the orchestra earned another ovation, but the audience was clearly also expressing its support for Robertson’s appointment and joyful anticipation of what the Utah audiences can look forward to in the three years that he will be in association with Utah Symphony and Utah Opera. He is a forward-thinking conductor and educator and his contribution to the arts community will be monumental. You can read more about his role and his vision in our interview with him here.
There is only one more performance, so hurry to the box office or the online ticketing site for tickets to this unforgettable evening. People of many ages and backgrounds will find something to connect with in each of the works.
Utah Symphony presents Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2
Abravanel Hall, 123 W South Temple, Salt Lake City, UT84101
December 9-10, 2022, 7:30 PM
Tickets: $10-88
www.usuo.org
Contact: 801-533-5626
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