While Esa-Pekka Salonen may be hogging the headlines among conductors these days, another Finn, Sakari Oramo, has been quietly making waves of his own on concert stages across America and Europe. As with Salonen and Minnesota Orchestra director Osmo Vanska, Oramo, 42, is a former pupil of Jorma Panula at Helsinki’s Sibelius Academy, and shares their impassioned, energetic technique. In 1999, he was hired to succeed Simon Rattle at the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, where I heard him conduct a remarkable performance of Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex last October, part of his ongoing "IgorFest" of Stravinsky’s complete works.
The first half of last night’s New York Philharmonic concert was devoted to Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1, featuring the young Georgian Lisa Batiashvili. Oramo has known Batiashvili since 1995 when, at 16, she won second prize in the Sibelius Competition in Helsinki, while he was the concertmaster of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. (He became the orchestra’s chief conductor in 2003.) She is scheduled to perform with him in both Birmingham and Helsinki later this season, and it’s obvious they have a deep affinity for each other.
Batiashvili started off a bit tentatively, but by the Scherzo she had found her groove, snapping her bow across the strings with Slavic flair. In the dirge-like Passacaglia, she got some great, gritty tones from her Strad while the orchestra backed her up with a big, majestic sound. That is, until the solo cadenza, one of the longest and most difficult in the repertoire, requiring the soloist to play at breakneck speed for nearly five minutes. Batiashvili nailed it, her bob of brown hair bouncing like a mop as she played. I immediately sensed this was no run-of-the-mill virtuoso: this was a true artist, with deep connections to this music and it’s motives. Shostakovich is, to employ an overused phrase, "in her veins." After the fiery finale, she received a warm and much-deserved ovation.
After intermission, it was Oramo’s turn to shine with the music of his countryman, Jean Sibelius. Conducting from memory, he started with the 6th Symphony, a cheerfully restrained work with both Romantic and Minimalist textures. Unfortunately, the Philharmonic’s strings lacked the warmth and texture this symphony needs, but I can’t say for certain if the fault lies with the players or Avery Fisher Hall, which is a poor concert venue in more ways than one. (The hall is due for a complete renovation in the 2009 season.)
The concert ended with Sibelius’ Tapiola Suite, which was commissioned by the Philharmonic in 1926 (and which they surprisingly haven’t performed since 1934.) The 20-minute piece depicts the mythical Norse forest, and is full of dark and brooding sounds, dense and hazy like a thicket in the fog. The work gradually builds in intensity, giving the formidable Philharmonic brass and percussion a decent workout. Even the strings rose to the occasion, at one point shivering like icy winds through the trees. Oramo was clearly in his element, and must have felt deeply gratified to revive this music with the Philharmonic, to which they can claim just – if prodigal – ownership.
Next week, the Philharmonic kicks off their Brahms the Romantic festival, which, on the surface, is about as innovative as a revival of Cats. Still, it should be interesting to hear what music director Lorin Maazel does with these masterworks. I’ll be at the May 31 performance of the 3rd and 4th symphonies, which are not often heard on the same program.
Postscript: This season, the Philharmonic and Carnegie have both adopted a pre-recorded announcement, loudly asking patrons to turn off their cell phones before the concert begins, and again after the intermission. It is a jarring, but effective measure – and given the vast number of brain-dead patrons who waited until that exact moment to turn off their phones, it is an institution which is likely here to stay. I long for the day when concert halls and theaters finally get aroung to installing signal scramblers, blocking the reception of all but doctors and other essentials. (FYI – lawyers and bankers are not essential.)