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Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Grieg: Peer Gynt Suite No. 1. Detlev Glanert: Cello Concerto (Johannes Moser, soloist). Sibelius: Symphony No. 2. Osmo Vänskä, conductor. Roy Thomson Corridor on March 27, 2024. Repeats March 28; tickets right here.
A lot stress is positioned today on renewing the repertoire. The Toronto Symphony Orchestra on Wednesday demonstrated the pitfalls of introducing new works with out pondering by way of the implications.
On the centre of this program in Roy Thomson Corridor was the Cello Concerto by Detlev Glanert, a 60-year-old German greatest identified in Europe for his operas. The world premiere was given January in Luxembourg by Johannes Moser beneath the baton of none aside from Gustavo Gimeno, who stays music director of the Luxembourg Philharmonic in addition to the TSO. These orchestras co-commissioned the work with the Cologne Philharmonie.
Oddly, Gimeno delegated the North American premiere to a visitor conductor, Osmo Vänskä. I’m wondering how Vänskä can return the favour.
Ostensibly written in three linked actions, the 32-minute rating scans as a compendium of causeless results, some quiet, some noisy, some dissonant, some not. We heard anguished lengthy tones from the cello, a violent cadenza, blaring orchestral interludes and plenty of, many pianissimo passages that lingered on the sting of audibility. It’s a time-honoured various to writing music which means one thing.
Not at all may Moser, who projected cogently by way of all of the comings and goings, be blamed. Vänskä, a conductor of clear gestures and plenty of of them, drew virtuoso enjoying from the orchestra. In his program notes Glanert claims to prioritize the stability of soloist and orchestra. You possibly can certainly hear all the pieces — for higher or worse.
It could be good to report that Vänskä made amends after intermission with Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2, a rating that needs to be on this Finnish conductor’s wheelhouse. It was actually an excellent efficiency, whereby lay the issue. With so many components within the foreground — together with, notably, penetrating brass — the elusive however obligatory factor of environment went lacking. This sounded much less just like the heroic Second than the Concerto for Orchestra Sibelius by no means wrote.
All the identical, there have been alternatives for the TSO to affirm its excellence. Pizzicati by cellos and basses within the Andante had been spot-on. Woodwinds within the third motion supplied welcome episodes of respite. They had been in high-quality type additionally in Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, the pops favorite with which the live performance began. Transferring issues alongside well in Sibelius, Vänskä most well-liked sluggish tempos in Grieg. The dynamic vary — from near-silent strings in Ase’s Demise to the overwhelming percussion of Within the Corridor of the Mountain King — was formidable.
It needs to be famous that the viewers didn’t share my reservations in regards to the Glanert and the Sibelius, giving each hearty applause. Glanert was current to take a bow.
The group was admirably quiet throughout the performances. No clapping between actions. Too dangerous snacking and boozing at the moment are tolerated within the corridor. A pair within the row forward of me had been washing down their popcorn with beer. A robust ale, by the odor of it.
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Arthur Kaptainis was classical music critic of the Montreal Gazette from 1986 to 2022 and wrote for the Nationwide Publish from 2010 to 2016. His articles seem in Classical Voice North America and Gramophone in addition to Ludwig Van. Arthur holds an MA in musicology from the College of Toronto. He’s president of the Music Critics Affiliation of North America.
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