Conlon Conducts Shostakovich & Korngold @ Dallas Symphony
—Wayne Lee Gay
Along with mass murder and torturous tyranny, Russian dictator Joseph Stalin's many interests included cinema and classical music—particularly new works by contemporary composers.
This was both a good and a bad thing for composers in Russia during Stalin's rule: working under Stalin meant medals and privileges one year, and threats and public humiliation the next. No one suffered more from the roller-coaster of Stalin's whims than Dmitri Shostakovich, whose Fifth Symphony appears as the main item in this weekend's concerts of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra under guest conductor James Conlon.
And in no work of Shostakovich does the shadow of Stalin cast so long a shadow as in his Fifth Symphony. Shostakovich had already been through the wringer of Stalin's alternating praise and disapproval when, in 1937, he commenced composition of his fifth essay in the genre. Passionate audience response to early performances of the work convinced Stalin that Shostakovich had produced a magnificent paean to the triumph of the Communist state. More likely, according to others familiar with the situation, the audience was reacting to what they perceived as a musical expression of their suffering and survival. The latter feels more likely, though listeners may judge for themselves—or simply experience the music in its inherent grandeur.
Here, Shostakovich draws on the symphonic heritage of Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Mahler to create what has become, deservedly, one of the most frequently performed symphonic works of the twentieth century. And one could hardly ask for a stronger performance than that offered by Conlon and the Dallas Symphony, with Conlon masterfully conserving and pacing his forces for maximum effect throughout.
The jagged, somber opening theme, here delivered by Conlon and the orchestra with a precision and powerful control that demands the listener's attention, leads inexorably to the gentler moments within the movement. The second movement, with its jangling pseudo-folk dance and jaunty march, is both easy to listen to and at the same time thought-provoking—in the manner of similar passages by Mahler. Is it parody or tribute? An attack on the Soviet state or a memorial to the common people?
In contrast, the third movement is without question an expression of sorrow in the grand tradition of the slow movements of Tchaikovsky and Mahler; the only question is whether its an expression of individual sorrow or the sorrow of a nation under tyranny. The Dallas Symphony strings, once again guided by Conlon's perfect sense of timing, brought it off beautifully, right up to that closing moment when we are granted a brief instant of serenity in a whispered F-sharp minor chord.
In the final movement, Conlon at last unleashes the full forces he hitherto conserves. For this listener, the buildup to and first delivery of the trumpet theme is one of the most thrilling and unfailingly heart-stopping moments in all of music. Whether Shostakovich was hewing the party line, delivering a disguised protest, or simply writing great music, this work stands as a monument to musical genius and human perseverance—and Conlon and the Dallas Symphony give a performance worth experiencing and remembering.
Shostakovich's Fifth is the final work in a concert program that opens with another, very different work by Shostakovich: the joyful Festive Overture reportedly written in just a few hours—and tellingly, a few years after Stalin's death. (No one can say for certain whether Stalin's death had anything to do with the exhilarating mood of the work, but, well ….)
The program’s centerpiece is the Violin Concerto of another victim of the cruel realities of twentieth-century Europe, Austrian-born composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Hailed as the new Mozart in his youth, Korngold fled from Hitler to Hollywood, where he proceeded to produce magnificent (and Oscar-winning) film scores. In 1945, he produced a wonderful Violin Concerto (borrowing a few bits from his movie work), beautifully presented here with DSO concertmaster Alexander Kerr as soloist.
In this work, Korngold focused on the sometimes sweet, sometimes pungent upper registers of the violin, which Kerr exploits magnificently. Solidly supported by Conlon and the orchestra, Kerr finds the delicate, Mendelssohn-esque energy in the first movement, and then floats the rich romantic melody line within a soft cloud of orchestral accompaniment in the second. The third movement, meanwhile, could almost serve as the background for a romantic comedy—but with a bit more of the complexity suitable for a concert work.
This is one of several all-twentieth-century concerts in the Dallas Symphony's classical series this year. While this is not particularly shocking, it's worth noting that such a thing was rather unusual in my distant youth, when all-nineteenth-century orchestral concerts were the norm. As one of my professor's once commented, the audience barely had managed to catch up to Debussy. Beethoven and Brahms are not losing ground by any means, but their musical descendants have quietly come into their own.
When: Repeated January 7 & 8
Where: Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center
