Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – The NY PHIL rushes through a wordless Ring, and Muti leads the CSO to produce Italianate heat and a glorious Tchaikovsky

• By drediman
• January 23, 2025
• No Comments

Over the past week or so, I was able to take in a pair of classical music concerts that endeavored to bring heat to these frigid early days of 2025. As per usual, read on for my thoughts.

NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC
David Geffen Hall

Last week at David Geffen Hall, Atlanta Symphony’s music director Nathalie Stutzmann guest conducted the New York Philharmonic in a rendition of The Ring Without Words (SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED). The aptly titled piece is essentially an uninterrupted symphonic highlights reel of Wagner’s epic four-opera Ring Cycle. Given their densely orchestrated construction, Wagner operas lend themselves to such wordless distillations. Indeed, in these works — particularly the massive Der Ring des Nibelungen — the real drama is embedded within the orchestral passages, as manifested by the innumerable leitmotifs that signal underlying themes. Oddly, Stutzmann’s reading felt rushed and devoid of both panoramic grandeur and human intimacy, almost as if the conductor was consciously repressing the score’s inherent nature and original intention. With the New York forces responding dutifully, The Ring‘s massive dramatic arc hardly registered as the conductor sped from one highlight to the next — from the dwarfish underworld of Das Rheingold, to the fire-ringed mountains of Die Walküre, to the epic showdown with the dragon Fáfnir in Siegfried, to basically the end of the world in Götterdämmerung. Even the show-stopping sequences like “Ride of the Valkyries” and “Siegfried’s Funeral March” came across as merely loud rather than viscerally impactful. The efficient treatment gave way to a surface-level blockbuster sheen, fitting perhaps as the soundtrack to a summer action flick. Nevertheless, Ring fanatics looking to get their fix of Wagner’s score played live may have gotten exactly what they were looking for.

CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Carnegie Hall

Earlier this week for one night only, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra played Carnegie Hall (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED), once again proving that they are among the world’s very finest orchestras. As outstandingly led by outgoing music director Riccardo Muti, the quality of the performance was at an exceptionally high level — it was evident throughout that we were in the hands of a true maestro, and the storied ensemble responded accordingly, playing with vigor and style. Indeed, the Chicago forces played with as much precision and calibration as as they did with color and passion. The first half of the evening boasted of the irresistible and uncommonly articulate Italianate flavors of the Overture to Bellini’s opera Norma and Verdi’s “The Four Seasons” from The Sicilian Vespers. The Bellini piece was performed with authority yet elegant phrasing, making for an ideal opener. Then came Verdi’s “The Four Seasons” (I’m familiar with the piece from having regularly watched Jerome Robbins’ ballet set to this music over the years), which I’ve rarely heard played with such nuance and refinement; there was a rich and authentic dance quality that pervaded the performance that I found delectable. The concert concluded gloriously with Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony, which was rendered with virtuosity and clarity. In particular, the third and fourth movements shined — the Scherzo was simply breathtaking in its control and grace, and the Allegro Finale concluded the symphony with emphasis and excitement. I’m also happy to report that the ensemble’s famous brass section stylishly excelled in the symphony’s equally famous (and pervasive) fanfare theme.