REVIEW: Denève and Szeps-Znaider Seize Attention at David Geffen Hall
Above photo by Chris Lee.
November 9, 2023
Stéphane Denève, a French conductor whose baton waves just about everywhere these days — St. Louis, Miami, the Netherlands just to start — joins the New York Philharmonic this week, alongside violin soloist Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider, for a weighty concert that requires, and rewards, an old-fashioned attention span.
The evening begins with Fate Now Conquers, an overture composed in 2019 by Carlos Simon, as an appetizer to Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61. There’s a bit of logic connecting them, although the flavor palette — the taste of a spicy and sour amuse bouche before settling into a generous course of subtly seasoned meat-and-potatoes — might be better balanced.
Photo by Chris Lee.
Simon, Grammy-nominated composer-in-residence at the Kennedy Center for the Arts, drew the work’s title from Beethoven’s journal entry in which he quotes Homer’s Iliad: "But Fate now conquers; I am hers.” Simon’s cleverly orchestrated music speaks with immediacy: tonal, post-minimalist, anxious, and infused with jazz and Hollywood. Short rhythmic bursts appeared as sparkly, inverted reflections of the “Fate motif” (da-da-da-dummm) that opens Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Simon takes the listener on an inner journey that builds to a tense denouement and concludes swiftly with an open lingering chord.
The first movement of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto opens with a toll of the timpani that also portends the inexorable. Szeps-Znaider plays Fritz Kreisler’s 1741 “del Gesu” violin, using its plush, round tone to smooth the treacherously exposed, stratospherically high solo part of the Beethoven concerto (and he plays Kreisler’s just-right cadenzas, as well). The soloist has an interminable wait before his entrance following the ponderous orchestral exposition, and Szeps-Znaider took an additional few moments to appear fully at home on the stage of Geffen Hall, with its newly clinical acoustics. Denève maintains a forward-flow to the tempo, bringing sweep to Beethoven’s melodies, though sometimes at the expense of intricate inner voices and detailed rhythmic texture.
Szeps-Znaider also applies rubato liberally in the first movement, and in the development’s surprise new theme — a mournful passage in G-Minor — he unearths and reveals the sentimental heart of the piece, delicately accompanied by conductor and orchestra. The ‘Larghetto’ is ravishing, Szeps-Znaider sustaining the long melismatic cantabile like a bel canto diva singing an operatic aria.
Photo by Chris Lee.
The concluding ‘Rondo’ exudes joy and triumph. The Philharmonic’s energetic horns and woodwinds enjoy their hunting calls, and Denève brings out well-motivated dynamic contrasts from the orchestra. Beethoven unexpectedly returns to the reflective G-Minor, and again, Szeps-Znaider, supported sensitively by the orchestra, transports us to a dreamy otherworld before the movement builds to a satisfying final cadence. His encore of a Bach Sarabande, a plea for humanity to do more listening, was healing and nourishing.
For the dessert-and-cheese course, Fate continues to be an ingredient, served up in Camille Saint-Saëns’ grandiose Symphony No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 78. It shares a key signature, but moreover a broader emotional trajectory with Beethoven’s Fifth, slyly transforming the notes of the Dies Irae into an exalted worldly adventure. The 40-minute “Organ Symphony” from 1886 employs large forces, including not only organ, but also four-hand piano.
Following a mysterious ‘Adagio,’ Denève molds the opening ‘Allegro moderato’ into a dramatic struggle, with virtuosic section playing in the strings and woodwinds and gutsy interjections from the horns. The effect is that of a tempest leaving a landscape eroded. Especially fine oboe and bassoon solos cry from the rubble, the music disintegrating as mysteriously as it began.
The soothing entrance of the organ is a ray of light. Patient, soft chords become a gentle padding underneath a prayerful theme in the strings, ‘Poco adagio.’ A trio of clarinet, horn, and trombone take a turn at the serene melody with glowing warmth, blossoming into a sublime, Mahlerian slow movement. Denève, in collaboration with concertmaster Frank Huang, maintains careful pianissimo dynamics, allowing for maximum emotional impact.
Photo by Chris Lee.
The scherzo-like ‘Allegro moderato’ almost aviates. Denève balances light, yet vivacious articulation in the winds on one hand, and the Philharmonic’s trademark rhythmic prowess on the other, soulfully digging into Saint-Saëns’ compelling counter-melodies and syncopated cross-rhythms.
Finally, we arrive at a glorious C-Major chord from the organ, heralding the Beethoven-esque fugue-ish finale, the minor-mode Dies Irae motif transformed into a celebratory chorale-style hymn punctuated by rippling arpeggios in four-hand piano. (The writing is so much more demanding for the pianists than the organist, the piece should really be called the “Piano Duet and Organ Symphony.”)
And that brings us to the organ. Sadly, pipe organs are rarely allotted for in concert halls these days, and the new Geffen Hall remains no exception. An acoustic pipe organ would create a more three dimensional sound; the digital instrument’s speakers are directional and just amplify a recorded sample.
The digital organ may merely suffice, acoustically, but when the Philharmonic’s inimitable low brass section finally joins the festivities in gloriously well-tuned bombastic fanfares, the audience rouses to its feet. The concert is a feast that might be too substantial for lighter appetites. But, these are quality ingredients handled deftly, and left me hungry for more.
***
The New York Philharmonic repeats this program:
