In its new incarnation as purveyor of new works and innovative programming, the Mostly Mozart Festival has also given wide exposure to a plethora of young conductors. Over the past couple of years this has included international stars Lionel Bringuier and Pablo Heras-Casado. Last night at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra had another young conductor at the helm, David Afkham, for a program of music by Johannes Brahms.
Brahms’s Concerto for violin and cello in A minor was given a soulful, stirring, and searching reading. While both violinist Vadim Repin and cellist Péter Szabó brought a fittingly romantic take to Brahms’s final orchestral work, they also felt a touch reserved. The first movement opens with an arresting dialogue between the two soloists and the duo truly move as one super soloist, so close is their synchronicity and tone. However, there was a tendency for this to render some median of emotion. In addition to being first time collaborators they had the sheet music in front of them, which, while not inherently a problem, can diffuse some of the spontaneity of a performance.