Dvořák’s Eighth/Chopin @ Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra
—Wayne Lee Gay
At Bass Performance Hall this weekend, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra explores Slavic romanticism with Czech guest conductor Tomáš Netopil and Czech piano soloist Lukáš Vondráček in a concert of Chopin and Dvořák.
Though not every music lover will agree with me, Chopin clearly belongs in the top ranks of classical composers. Within the limits of one instrument—the piano—he invented and revised new structures, explored tonal possibilities, and discovered previously unimagined sonorities for that instrument.
That said, this listener is always a bit perplexed by the persistence of one of his weakest works, the Piano Concerto No. 1, in the orchestral repertoire. Completed before Chopin left Poland to launch his international career (and taste the delights of Parisian salon life), it's the work of a composer still finding his footing. Patches of genius burst through—particularly in the lyrical slow movement—but much time and energy is expended on very weak orchestral writing and the natural tendency of a 20-year-old composer to follow the rules. Chopin would later invent new structures and revise old ones to match his wonderful thematic material. Here, he lets established formulae enslave the composition.
Still, pianists—who unanimously love and worship Chopin—very much want a piano concerto by their musical god, and however weakly, Concerto No. 1 fills that slot. Audiences as well put up with the stretches of not-particularly-fine orchestral writing for the moments when the young composer's budding mastery break through.
Pianist Vondráček takes the Concerto No. 1 in hand reasonably well. Crystaline scale passages and a subtle dynamic range from the pianist make it work, and that murderously difficult dance motif in the Finale, (demanding a feather-light touch) also comes across admirably. Conductor Netopil supplies a suitably smooth sound from the strings tbroughout. On Friday night for an encore, Vondráček presented a breathtakingly gorgeous rendition of Chopin's Nocturne No. 1 in B-flat minor, reminding us of the composer's ability to create perfection on a small scale.
Ahead of the Chopin Concerto, Netopil opens the concert with Dvořák’s Slavonic Dance No. 1 in C, played with joyful verve—and, occasionally, with a bit too much volume from the brass.
After intermission and the Concerto, Netopil returns to Dvořák and that composer's Eighth Symphony, one of the nineteenth century's greatest symphonic scores. Equal to the composer's more broadly popular Ninth Symphony "From the New World" (and in many ways superior to it), Dvorak here weaves together his masterfully colorful orchestration and melodic gifts in a four-movement structure that is at once traditional and innovative.
The final movement, a set of lively variations announced by a trumpet fanfare, moves irresistibly toward a majestic climax—then turns to close with a raucous, gloriously folkloric finale. Netopil produces the necessary momentum of the work handsomely—somewhat marred, however, by too much volume from the brass. (Friday night's orchestral encore--another Slavonic Dance by Dvořák—likewise had plenty of excitement but wanted a little less volume and noise.
WHEN: May 24-26, 2024
WHERE: Bass Performance Hall, Fort Worth
WEB: fwsymphony.org
