Emanuel Ax Struts His Stuff with NYP Musicians in a Magnificent Matinee

A belated thanks to the U.S. Department of State for screwing up the NY Philharmonic's planned jaunt to Cuba for some concerts by refusing to allow the donors who were underwriting the tour to go along.  Under the circumstances the Philharmonic cancelled the tour, since they had set it up as a trip for the underwriters as well as the orchestra....  My belated thanks is because the Philharmonic decided to use the time instead to play some more concerts at home -- most innovatively, today's matinee in which Emanuel Ax joined three NYP string section leaders and Maestro Alan Gilbert (who was a violinist before he was a conductor) in a rousing performance of Schumann's Piano Quintet, returning after intermission (and a spirited run through of the Egmont Overture by the orchestra) for a sublime rendition of Beethoven's 3rd Piano Concerto.

This was a wonderful event.  Maybe I'm in the minority on this, but I consider the Schumann Piano Quintet to be one of the high points in 19th century chamber music, and definitely one of the best pieces that Robert Schumann ever produced.  Every movement is packed with memorable themes, interestingly worked out, lots of drama and sentiment in good proportion, and rousing endings for the fast movements.  Gilbert held up his end at second fiddle quite well, considering the company he was in: Ax, concertmaster Glenn Dicterow, principal violist Cynthia Phelps, and principal cellist Carter Brey.  That's an all-star cast in anyone's book, and Alan Gilbert pulled his weight in this excellent ensemble.  They all seemed to be having a great time down on the stage, and I think we in the audience were having a great time as well, as indicated by some spontaneous erruptions of applause after the first and third movements.  (It's a four-movement piece.)

The second half was all-Beethoven.  Enough said.  Once again, I may be in a minority on this -- although I'm less certain of that -- but for my money Beethoven was the best composer of orchestral music who ever lived.  There is plenty of great music by many other composers, but I don't think anybody else touches Beethoven for the sheer inspiration and quality of his work.  As someone once said, great music is better than it can ever be played, and that's true of Beethoven's music.  But this afternoon's performances met a high standard and gave great pleasure.  Tempi were solidly middle-of-the-road, nothing exaggerated, nothing super-flashy, nothing long-drawn-out and dull, just solidly centered with great care over balances and phrasing, nicely capturing the changing moods of the overture and the concerto.  I think it is terrific that a young conductor like Gilbert can be so enthusiastic about Beethoven, as his conducting clearly communicates.  The highest achievement for an interpreter of this repertory is to animate the music -- give it real life -- without getting in the way, and that was achieved this afternoon.

As for Ax --  I went through a time of thinking Ax a dull pianist, but I've come to realize that in fact he is a fantastic pianist.  He also does not go in for exaggeration, inappropriate flashiness, histrionics at the keyboard, etc.  He's all business.  But the point is that he loves the music, he has the technique to play it very well, he understands what he is doing, and he communicates all of this on a high level.  I've come to appreciate that he makes his points with subtlety and grace, that he is a true collaborator with the orchestra, not a show-off.  I believe I've heard him in concert now in all three of the mature Beethoven concerti, and each was a delightful experience.   Now I understand why Artur Rubinstein raved about the very young Ax the first time he heard him.  He is really special.

Wouldn't it be fine if Ax, Gilbert and the NYP could record a Beethoven concerto cycle?  The shoe has yet to drop, at least publicly, on commercial recordings by Gilbert and the NYP, but I hope those will come, because I think this is a partnership that is quickly showing terrific synergy, and the orchestra -- kept in fine technical shape by Masur and Maazel, regardless what you think of their interpretations -- is playing at such a peak of accomplishment that it would be a shame not to create a permanent record of its work that could be shared in the best of modern sound reproduction with a large audience.

After the concert, Ax and Gilbert returned to the stage with cellist Carter Brey as moderator for a brief "talk back" to the audience, first with questions put by Brey, and then by members of the audience.  The best part, for me, was the response from Ax and Gilbert to an audience member's question about applause between movements, a subject on which Ax has written on his own blog.  I strongly agree with Ax that when audiences are moved to show their appreciation after a movement, they should do so.  I would go a step further.  It seems clear to me that certain music is meant to rouse applause, and that includes the endings of the first movements of most symphonies.   There are occasional exceptions, first movements that end softly, such as those of the Brahms 2nd and 3rd Symphonies, but I've always thought that audiences sitting on their hands at the end of Beethoven Symphony first movements was awkwardly artificial, and that's true for most scherzi as well.  I think it was Gilbert who made the point that in Beethoven's time a symphony would be strewn throughout a concert program with other events intervening between the movements, and if there was no applause after a movement, Beethoven would have been quite unhappy, thinking nobody liked his music.  This idea of silence between all movements is a 20th century development and a most unwelcome one. 

The other night at Carnegie Hall when Tilson Thomas and the Juilliard Orchestra were playing Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, some enthusiasts began to applaud after the first tenor song, and there was lots of hushing and Thomas whirled around to signal quiet.  You know what?  Although Mahler did not live to conduct the premiere of this piece, I bet he would have been delighted if there was applause after the first tenor song.  I can understand the need to sustain a mood between movements when a movement ends softly, but when a movement ends with a loud flourish, I don't see how clapping "breaks the mood."  And I feel sorry for the tenor in a performance of Das Lied, since he sings numbers 1, 3, and 5, and the mezzo sings numbers 2, 4 and 6, so the tenor never gets quite the applause he deserves because there is no applause until the end AND the ending of 6 is the most fantastic thing in the world so the mezzo reaps the most applause from that.  Who remembers what the tenor was doing half an hour ago?  End of rant.  We must abandon this strange custom.  This Monday night the Boston Symphony does Beethoven Symphonies 6 and 7 at Carnegie.  Everybody should applaud after the first movement of the 7th.  (Even if Maazel mucks it up.)  C'mon, guys....