Robert Schumann was probably on the edge of an abyss when he wrote his Violin Concert in 1853. That’s the feeling I had when I heard Stefan Jackiw play it with the Oregon Symphony under music director David Danzmayr on May 23 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. It was filled with virtuosic firepower but seemed stuck in third gear with the engine constantly revving but not necessarily going anywhere.
The concerto was one of the last pieces that Schumann wrote. The following year, he went mad and jumped into the Rhine River where he was rescued by boatmen. He then was admitted to an asylum for the insane where he died in 1856 at the age of 46.
Schumann wrote his Violin Concerto for the legendary Hungarian violinist Joseph Joachim, but Joachim felt that it was not up to Schumann’s standards. Schumann’s wife, Clara agreed, and the piece was sequestered in Prussian State Library for the next 80 years. Strangely enough, in 1933 a séance that involved Joachim’s grandnieces, Jelly d’Arányi and Adila Fachiri, both of whom were exceptional professional violinists, brought about the rediscovery of Schumann’s concerto. It was played for the first time in 1937 by Georg Kulenkampff with the Berlin Philharmonic for the Nazis (Goebbels was in attendance). A few days later, Yehudi Menuhin performed it in Carnegie Hall, and a little later d’Arányi did the honors in London
Schumann’s Violin Concerto opened strongly. The orchestra and the soloist elicited a robust theme that settled into a lovely melody. The piece shifted back and forth between vigorous statements and quiet passages. Jackiw and his colleagues gathered a lot of steam to surge into the final measures, capping it off with Jackiw delivering a scintillating series of double-stops. That elicited applause from all corner of the hall.
In the second movement was slower, and its main theme was tinged with sadness. Yet it seemed to lose some focus and energy, despite the incisive playing of Jackiw and variations in the dynamics.
In his opening remarks to the piece, Jackiw said that the third movement had been deemed by Joachim as unplayable, and that Joachim was right. But that assessment didn’t deter Jackiw from fearlessly launching into it and executing an unending blizzard of notes. But the music didn’t soar or go anywhere. It just spun the motor, so to speak, at a very high rpm. Jackiw’s fingers and bow were flying at breakneck speed but it was pretty much in the middle range. It was as if Schumann got stuck. Still, it was impressive to hear Jackiw interpret that unusual concerto.
Another impressive soloist at the concert was Michael Roberts, who was front and center with the marimba and a string orchestra for Gabriella Smith’s “Riprap.” With two or more sticks in each hand, Roberts created repetitive sonic waves. It was easy to picture a scene at the seashore with the ocean slapping up against a pile of large rocks that have been placed to keep the shoreline from eroding. By using various sticks, Roberts changed the colors of sound. Sometimes the sound took on a translucent quality, and at other times it became raspy. He often maintained a rhythm in one hand, but a different rhythm in the other. Just amazing!
The second half of the concert featured two works by Mozart that were not listed in the original program. The pandemic really hit the orchestra hard over the past two weeks. Even the final concert led by the orchestra’s former music director, Carlos Kalmar, the week before had to be cancelled. So Danzmayr wisely changed the program from Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner to Mozart in order to use a smaller roster
The Overture to Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” received an immaculate and exciting performance by the orchestra. The lines were clean and sparkly. Terrific dynamics included a stunning sforzando and a superb transition from an ultra-quiet pianissimo to a demonstrative triple forte. After the piece closed, I wanted singers to appear and launch into the rest of the opera!
Mozart had a lot of money problems, but he fortunately didn’t go insane at the time that he wrote his Symphony No. 40, which he completed three years before he passed away in 1791 when he was only 35 years old. Danzmayer and the orchestra showed complete mastery of this piece with exceptional dynamics that made each movement a gem. I loved how the musicians shaped their phrases, tapering off some and making others bolder. In the Andante movement, Danzmayer flicked his fingers impishly to elicit a delightfully lithe playing from the violins. Again, the dynamics and pacing were spot on throughout the piece, and that made the Mozart a sublime experience for the evening.
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