Yesterday afternoon the Met Orchestra, under the direction of James Levine, performed the final concert of its Sunday matinee series at Carnegie Hall this season. For the occasion, the orchestra played an all Dvořák program.featuring some of the composer's best known works.
The program opened with the Carnival Overture, Op. 92 (1891). Written shortly before he left Europe for America, this is one of three overtures Dvořák intended to be viewed as constituting a single series. The overture is joyful but at the same time contains hints of melancholy as the viewpoint is that of an outsider looking in at festivities to which he has not been invited. In the program notes, the composer is quoted as follows:
"The lonely, contemplative wanderer reaches the city at nightfall, where a carnival is in full swing. On every side is heard the clangor of instruments, mingled with shouts of joy and the unrestrained hilarity of people giving vent to their feelings in their songs and dance tunes."
The next piece was the Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104 (1894-95). The work was written during Dvořák's sojourn in New York as director of the National Conservatory and was inspired, at least according to Wikipedia, by a cello concerto composed by fellow teacher Victor Herbert of all people. Often considered the greatest cello concerto ever written, the piece was originally intended to be premiered by Dvořák's close friend, Czech cellist Hanuš Wihan. An altercation arose between the two, however, when Wihan expressed a wish to insert his own cadenzas. Dvořák strenuously resisted this idea as he had intended the third movement as a tribute to his sister-in-law, Josefina Kaunitzova, and would allow no changes whatsoever to be made. In any event, Wihan was unable to attend the concerto's premiere in London and the work was instead premiered by Leo Stern.
The soloist at yesterday's performance of the concerto was the well known cellist Lynn Harrell. Mr. Harrell is a fine musician whom I've seen many times before. He did full justice to the Dvořák and then, after a brief speech, played a Bach prelude as an encore.
After intermission, the orchestra returned to conclude the program with Dvořák's Seventh Symphony in D minor, Op. 70 (1885). Inspired by the premiere of Brahms' Third Symphony as well as an invitation from the Royal Philharmonic Society, this is one of Dvořák's best crafted works, one in which he moves away from the pleasantries of Czech folk music to a more somber view of his country's heritage. The symphony, right from its brooding opening, is considerably darker in tone than most of the composer's other orchestral works. The Met musicians gave a powerful rendition of this complex masterpiece as Mr. Levine guided them through the four tightly constructed movements. I found the hushed Poco Adagio particularly affecting.
Before the performance, I encountered members of the orchestra standing outside the hall distributing leaflets regarding their current labor negotiations with the Met management. While I have sympathy for the musicians - they certainly deserve to be properly compensated for their skills - I think they would be well advised to look at the reality of their situation. That opera is a vanishing art form, at least in the U.S., has been demonstrated conclusively by the recent failures of the City Opera and the San Diego Opera. As older audiences die off, there are no younger ones to take their place. So irrelevant has opera become to the current American lifestyle that I would not be surprised if even the Met itself were forced to shut down at some point in the foreseeable future. Bitterly fought labor actions will only hasten the arrival of this sad eventuality. If there is a strike or lockout this fall, the real losers will be those remaining audience members who still cherish opera and its traditions.
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