Monday, June 24, 2013

Met Orchestra Performs Beethoven and Stravinsky

This article was originally published on December 3, 2012

Yesterday's matinee by the Met Orchestra at Carnegie Hall was one of the longest concerts I've attended in recent memory. A full two and a half hours, it began with a 2007 piece by Sofia Gubaidulina entitled In tempus praesens. From the Latin title on, this violin concerto was much too self indulgent. Most particularly, contemporary composers should realize they need not include every known instrument when orchestrating a given piece. In this case, I believe a smaller ensemble would have much better served Ms. Gubaidulina's stated intent. As it was, the work was redeemed by the excellent playing of concertmaster David Chan.

A quarter centuy ago, one could not go through a season without hearing at least two performances of Beethoven's Fifth Piano Concerto in E flat, Op. 73. If ever there was a warhorse, it was this finale of the composer's heroic period, complete with rousing martial music. In the past few years, though, this same piece, perhaps because it has become overfamiliar, has not been played nearly as often. Yesterday, Yefim Bronfman gave a sturdy run through backed by Fabio Luisi's fine conducting. While the performance may have revealed nothing new, it was a pleasure to once again hear this old standby.

At 5:00 p.m., when a two-hour the concert normally would have ended and members of the audience were beginning to leave, the orchestra launched into Stravinsky's Firebird Suite. The program noted that the 1945 version played by the orchestra retained "the most material from the ballet." Considering that this was a youthful and somewhat derivative excursion by the composer, that may have made it a dubious choice in spite of the work's historical importance.

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