by Angela Sutton
Photo credit: Chris Lee
In a blockbuster program at Carnegie Hall on Sunday, the Vienna Philharmonic closed its latest visit to New York with maestro Zubin Mehta on the podium. From Mozart to Theodor Berger, the works programmed spanned two centuries of Austrian and Viennese musical output, with the diverse talents of Gil Shaham, Diana Damrau, and the New York Choral Artists assisting the orchestra along the way.
I must confess, I found this program somewhat strange. Dropping Brahms and Beethoven, German imports that they were, is understandable, especially given the frequency with which their works are performed elsewhere. Leaving out Haydn, however, or, above all, Schubert, seems bizarre in a program centered on Vienna—surely there must be some little-known gem in these composers' works waiting to be polished. Passing over the famous to give lesser lights their due is all well and good, but then turning around and loading up the end of the program with Strauss waltzes is simply to replace one programming cliche with another, fluffier one.
With that said, once the playing begins the Vienna Phil is one of the most preternaturally coordinated and unified ensembles in the world. The precision and variety of their sound never fails to astonish, and Sunday was no exception. Standouts included a lean, nervy rendering of the Korngold Violin Concerto with Gil Shaham (although the size of the ensemble inevitably caused some balance issues), and a lovely version of Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus with the New York Choral Artists.
The real highlight, however, was a shattering performance of Anton Webern's Six Pieces for Large Orchestra, Op. 6. The work has as much range as a Mahler symphony, yet each movement is only about two minutes in duration. Every detail is therefore critical, and the orchestra gave them all careful attention, drawing out each color for maximum effect. In particular, the low throb in the percussion throughout the fourth piece sank a melancholy anchor into the heart of the listeners that stuck long after the close of the work.
If the Vienna Philharmonic can give this sort of reading of the Second Viennese School's music, then let's have more, please.