Given all the highly-salivated publicity surrounding the NY Philharmonic's appointment of Gustavo Dudamel as its next music director, you might be forgiven for thinking that the Phil is currently in some kind of limbo/bardo, given that Duda doesn't take the reins til 2026. (He'll be "music director designate" next season.) But, those who venture out to David Geffen Hall right now will find full, enthusiastic houses, engaging programs, and an orchestra that's never looked – or sounded – better. At least not in the 20+ years I've been attending concerts…
Much of that, of course, has to do with the hall's $550 million renovation completed in 2022 which brightened its appearance, improved the acoustics and, crucially, reduced audience capacity by some 500 seats. But, as they say, "you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear," and the NY Phil continues to play with the pride and confidence of an organization as old as the Vienna Philharmonic – both were founded in 1842 – while refusing to rest on its laurels. That's thanks largely to former music director Jaap van Zweden, who brought on several key players during his brief six-year tenure – uniquely among top orchestras, the Phil is now more than 50% female – while making them sound tight and polished. Credit also former CEO Deborah Borda who, in addition to spearheading the hall's renovation, enhanced the orchestra's relevance with numerous innovations, such as ditching the old white-tie-and-tails on the male players in favor of black suits, shirts and ties.
During its current interregnum – assuming the music director makes any difference – the Phil has come to rely on a rotating cast of guest conductors from across the age and gender spectrum. One of their recent favorites has been the Finnish conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali, 39, current principal conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra and Gothenburg Symphony, who returned last week to conduct works by Shostakovich and Prokofiev. Finland shares a long border – and a fraught history – with Russia, so this is music which Rouvali no doubt has grown up around.
Rouvali showed he had little use for maestro-gravitas when he bounced onto the stage Saturday night and immediately launched into music from Shostakovich's little known operetta Moscow, Cheryonmushki (1958), a satire about young tenants seeking subsidized housing in Moscow that could just as easily be set in 2025 NYC. Rouvali conducted the lively, jazz-influenced music with joy and abandon, his big curly hair flying around like a young Simon Rattle.
The Berlin-based Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho has made quite a stir over the past few seasons, memorably flying in three years ago to perform the Rach 2 with the Vienna Philharmonic as a last minute substitute. Here, he dispatched Prokofiev's 2nd concerto, a fiendishly difficult work with extended solos that had Cho's hands flying up and down the keyboard. (Remarkably, Prokofiev wrote it when he was only 22 and still a student.) After several rapturous curtain calls, Cho played Ravel's "À La Manière de Borodine" as en encore, which he also performed two weeks earlier at Carnegie Hall as part of a marathon concert of Ravel's complete piano music.
After intermission, Rouvali returned to Shostakovich with his final symphony, No. 15 in A major (1971). Equal parts humor and pathos, Shostakovich quotes material as diverse Rossini's William Tell Overture and Siegfried's Funeral March from Wagner's Götterdämmerung, not to mention his own earlier symphonies and operas. At the end of a long, prolific career, one can't fault Shosty for leaning a bit on past laurels for inspiration.
With these concerts, Rouvali did nothing to dissuade NYC audiences from the impression that he's one of the most exciting conductors of his generation, even if he hasn't benefitted from the same star-making machinery as one of his fellow Finns. But, if you just can't wait to see Dudamel, he'll be back as a guest conductor in two weeks, leading a program of Ravel and Gershwin with another star pianist, Yuja Wang. Naturally, all four performances are sold out.
More pics on Instagram.