NY Philharmonic Summertime Classics Concert I: From Russia With Love

The New York Philharmonic inaugurated its seventh season of Summertime Classics concerts, led by British conductor Bramwell Tovey, tonight.  As has become the custom, they began the series with an all-Russian program, titled "From Russia With Love."  For a brief appetizer, we had the March & Scherzo from Prokofiev's opera, The Love For Three Oranges.  Then, young Russian violinist Mikhail Simonyan made his NY Philharmonic debut in the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto.  After intermission, there was a suite from Act III of Glazunov's ballet, Raymonda, and to wrap things up, Tchaikovsky's Marche slave.  Simonyan played Rodion Shchedrin's Gypsy Melody as an encore, and the orchestra encored the concert with a march from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Ballet.

This was a rousing start to the series.  I had predicted earlier today, based on past experience, that the stage would be full of substitutes and students of NYP members, as in past years I sometimes thought it was almost dishonest to call the aggregation on the stage for these concerts "The New York Philharmonic."  But, to my surprise, it appeared that most of the musicians on stage were the familiar folks from the subscription season, including many of the principal players.  Indeed, we had the treat of a great English Horn solo in Glazunov from the incomparable Thomas Stacy, some fantastic high trumpet work in Tchaikovsky from principal player Philip Smith, and a very atmospheric piano solo in Glazunov from Harriet Wingreen.  The orchestra played up to its usual high standardc with Principal Associate Concertmaster Sheryl Staples leading the strings, and I was quite pleased with the overall results.

Mr. Simonyan made a good impression in the Tchaikovsky, a few insecure high notes in the cadenza apart.  (After all, the great Leopold Auer said this concerto was unplayable and, although he changed his tune eventually, it is, truth be told, close to that....)  I was especially impressed by his Canzonetta, which had all the gentleness and affection one could want, although he could have ripped loose a little more in the finale.  At any rate, he is quite young and has plenty of time to grow into the big concerti, and for now there is lots of talent on display.  He also projects a wonderful feeling of enjoying himself on the stage, which is quite contagious.  The Shchedrin piece he selected for his encore is show-off stuff, but he was fully up to it.

The second half of the concert was the novelty half.  Music from Glazunov's Raymonda was last played by this orchestra almost half a century ago.  This is faux Hungarian music through a St. Petersburg lens, and vastly entertaining.  We should hear it more often.  But I was shocked to read in the program book that this was the first performance of Tchaikovsky's Marche slave by the NYP in 25 years - last performed in a parks concert in 1985!!  Anybody whose acquaintance with Tchaikovsky is mainly from recordings will think of this piece as an old chestnut, as it is frequently recorded as "filler" for a symphony in order to bring the disc closer to an hour.  The great American podium giants of mid-century - Ormandy, Bernstein, Szell, Reiner, Stokowski - all had this piece in their repertory, played it and recorded it.  But somehow it has fallen out of use -- a situation that seems inexplicable in light of tonight's stellar performance.  This is a fine piece - much finer and more inventive than the inescapable 1812 Overture.  Perhaps its absence from our concert programs is due to the vogue for long, deep pieces and the avoidance of shorter show-pieces.  But I think this march is worth more frequent revival, and I hope we hear it again before too long.  Certainly, a rousing live performance is thrilling in a way that a recording can't quite match.

So, score a win for Round 1.  Round 2, this Thursday and Friday nights, gives us the annual Independence Day celebration, with the West Point band as guest artists and lots of Sousa, so hold on to your hat!