By Márcio Bezerra
As if its visit in 2024 were not already a miracle (a fantastic coup by classical music artistic adviser Phillip Bergman) the Vienna Philharmonic, one of the world’s top musical institutions, returned to the Kravis Center for two sold-out concerts this month.
On Monday, March 9, the august ensemble presented a program with two massive early modern works. Joined by celebrity pianist Lang Lang, they started the evening with Béla Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in E major. Bartók’s last work, the 1945 concerto is a far cry from his colorful, folk-tinged works from previous decades and from the Classical-Romantic repertory one usually associates with Lang Lang.
Reading the score on a tablet, the pianist’s technical facility was made clear from the start. His usually percussive sound was appropriate for the many folk-inspired passages in the first and third movements. Together, with the exceptional musicians of the Vienna Philharmonic, the pianist was able to create moments of coloristic beauty. That is not say that the choice of concerto was a happy one. One would have loved to hear Lang Lang and the Vienna Philharmonic tackling a juicy Romantic concerto, such as one of the two by Franz Liszt.
But Bartók was what was offered and the audience reacted (more because of the reputation of the artists than because of the choice of repertoire) with a standing ovation that prompted Lang Lang to oblige with a most tender and controlled rendition of Liszt’s Consolation No. 2.
The second half of the program featured Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1. Though written in 1889, the symphony belongs to the tonal world of the following century. Its sudden shifts of mood, adventurous harmonic schemes, and use of sarcasm point to a style that would disappear after the advent of 12-tone technique.
Under guest conductor Andris Nelsons, the Viennese gave a difficult-to-top, sonically rich reading. Nelsons’s penchant for carefully shaping each individual phrase resulted in a somewhat disjointed first movement, although one could defend the “cubist” result as revelatory.
There was no question of his directing skills in the third movement, though. The many countermelodies to the famous minor-key “Frère Jacques” were performed in a way that created new textures and colors truly exceptional. It was the highlight of the evening. The second and fourth movements were performed with the excellence one would expect from an ensemble of the Vienna Philharmonic’s stature.
The Kravis’ usual standing-walking ovation prompted Nelsons to return for a muscular rendition of the ever-popular Light Cavalry Overture by Franz von Suppé. Some of the audience members confused that with the Radetzky March and, as it is tradition at the Vienna Philharmonic New Year’s Concert, started clapping to the music.
Hopefully, that glitch, in addition to the constant ringing of cellphones during the concert, won’t deter the orchestra from ever returning to our shores.