The main attraction for me was the legendary pianist Radu Lupu, who I haven't heard for many years. At 67 he supposedly is still in good form, but I gotta say that his performance of the Bartok Piano Concerto #3 left me flat - of course it isn't the warmest and most cuddly of concertos, but I thought that his playing was uninspired and dry. And the orchestra wasn't any better accompanying him (or playing in tune). The applause struck me as courteous, although its persistence brought him back for three bows and one encore. Even the musicians in the orchestra were barely applauding. Sigh. Hope it was just an "off" night for him.
The concert opened with the Szymanowski "Concert Overture" which is big and bombastic (you know you're in for something loud when you see 4 trombones and 4 trumpets and 6 horns on stage!). I don't think I've heard this piece before...it reminded me of some of Richard Strauss' music...it definitely got things cookin', but probably isn't something that I'd go out of my way to hear again.
After intermission we got Robert Schumann's Symphony #2. Aahhhh...now we're on much more tuneful and familiar territory. It was OK, but conductor Thomas Hengebrock seemed determined to not let it become romantic. Such a shame. It has some glorious long lines that are wonderful when not played dryly and matter-of-factly but rather with a sense of ensemble and style and heart (and in tune). The horns did pretty good (yea!) and of course it's a marvelous composition, but overall I left with less of a feeling of satisfaction than I had hoped.
I'm guessing that about 1/4 of the seats were empty. And I was amused to observe a substantial number of patrons running for the doors while applauding at the end of the concert - worse than is traditional at MN Orchestra concerts - and given the layout of the hall, they were very visible. It totally cracked me up!
This is a pretty highly-regarded orchestra, of course, but they aren't close to the level of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra. (Or I should say, The SPCO and the MO before they were locked out by their nasty managements last fall. What a loss to the world of classical music. Let's all heave a big unison sigh and then figure out what we can do about it. I have some suggestions! At this point I'm not convinced that recent news from the negotiations is good for The SPCO.)
The good news: it was an easy Metro ride, with just one transfer, to the Ternes station which is just a couple blocks from Salle Pleyel! And it wasn't raining too hard! And it was an evening in a lovely concert hall, even if a slightly disappointing one.
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