NY Philharmonic Performs Fauré and Prokofiev

For the last concert of my subscription series, members of the Philharmonic, joined by guest pianist Marc-André Hamelin, yesterday afternoon gave a recital of a chamber work by Fauré followed in the second half by the full orchestra's performance of a ballet suite by Prokofiev.

This was the second time this season I'd heard a rendition of Fauré's Piano Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 15 (1876-1883).  The previous occasion had been a recital given by the ACJW Ensemble at Paul Hall in January.  The quartet is characteristic of Fauré's chamber work in that it is never flamboyant but instead proceeds in a smooth understated flow that is both melodic and extremely pleasant to hear.  Though there has been speculation that the composition of the piece was affected by an incident in Fauré's personal life when Marianne Viardot (daughter of the famous mezzo-soprano Pauline Viardot) abruptly broke off their engagement, there is no evidence of this in the work itself.  No signs of heartbreak disturb its serenity.  In fact, Fauré was well along in the composition of the work when the breach occurred.   

The final work on the program, as conducted by Andrew Davis, was Prokofiev's orchestral suite taken from his ballet Romeo and Juliet (1935-1936).  I had heard this work performed earlier this season as well, on the last occasion by the Beijing Symphony at Carnegie Hall this past October.  That version was lifeless and a definite disappointment.  Under Davis, the Philharmonic showed a much better understanding of Prokofiev's idiom and the sense of irony that informs much of the work.  An interesting aside is that the composer had originally planned to give the piece a happy ending in which Romeo arrived at Juliet's side before she had had time to drink the poison.  Luckily, Prokofiev changed his mind and stayed with the conclusion which Shakespeare had originally written.

I did not renew my subscription to the Philharmonic for next season.  Over time, I've become disheartened by the organization's poor customer service and by its weekly barrage of phone calls begging for donations.  Then too, though there are some excellent musicians in the orchestra, the quality of its conductors has left a great deal to be desired.  The Philharmonic's great problem is that it has never been able to find a worthy successor to Bernstein.

Since I will not be returning next season, it was fitting that I should have heard concertmaster Glenn Dicterow perform on Fauré's quartet at this final concert.  This was one of his last appearances before leaving at the end of the season.  He has been a mainstay of the orchestra and as close to an institution as the classical music world in NYC possesses.