Violinist Nicola Benedetti @ Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Photo by Sylvia Elzafon for the DSO
—Review by Wayne Lee Gay
A soft, almost inaudible pizzicato note ushers in the U.S. premiere of Scottish composer James MacMillan's Violin Concerto No. 2, in performances by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and soloist Nicola Benedetti this week. DSO music director Fabio Luisi conducts.
One could hardly ask for a more compelling introduction of this new work. At just twenty-five minutes (and played in a single uninterrupted movement), the Concerto flows relentlessly in and out of broad lyricism to angular dissonance, utilizing a huge array of orchestral colors and effective violin technique. Luisi guides the performance smoothly through the work's complexities and sudden mood shifts; violinist Benedetti performs with passion and flawless command—masterfully seizing, through force of personality, a penultimate moment of silence before the reiteration of the opening material. Her powerful, gorgeous stage presence only amplifies her obvious musical and artistic excellence.
As for the Concerto itself, not a dull moment passes amongst brassy marches, ominous drumbeats, moments of romantic lyricism that would have done Mendelssohn or Tchaikovsky proud, and even a playful duet between soloist and concertmaster. MacMillan clearly places himself here as heir to late romanticism as well as the broad twentieth-century British symphonic tradition. He bypasses the experiments and iconoclasms of the late twentieth century in favor of the larger tradition. Yet the unique musical vocabulary and colors of the piece place it squarely within the emerging body of works identifiable as twenty-first-century music. Bravo to Luisi and the Dallas Symphony for bringing this significant new work to Dallas first.
Bruckner's Symphony No. 4 in E-flat Major follows after intermission, in the composer's version of 1878-80. This massive, sixty-four-minute, four-movement work affords a rich display of glorious late romantic moments. Historically, it represents a key moment in the development of the monumental symphonic style that reached its apex a generation later in the symphonies of Mahler.
High points abound for fans of the late romantic style. Bruckner largely adhered to the traditional orchestra of his contemporaries Brahms and Tchaikovsky, but explored new colors and combinations in anticipation of the extravagant orchestrations of Richard Strauss and Mahler. The opening moments, with a horn call over soft strings, provides an unforgettable representation of dawn and sunrise. And the second movement casts a spotlight on each separate string section, in this performance particularly showing off the DSO’s viola section, stronger than it has been in decades.
But, for all the beauties of this work, Bruckner the inspired late-romantic composer gives way to Bruckner the church organist and theory professor a little too often. Ponderous and predictable sequential modulations abound, and orchestration often lapses into simple repetition of passages by various sections of the orchestra. Textbook forms and structures sometimes overwhelm emotional cohesion. The brilliant third movement Scherzo, for instance, presents a powerfully energetic main theme as well as intricate echoing counterpoint, with a stunning harmonic shift from B-flat to G-flat—all of which jolts the first time or two but becomes predictable the fourth time around, as the composer dutifully adheres to the rules.
Here and in other moments, conductor Luisi and the Dallas Symphony dutifully lay out the sometimes powerful moments in the score. To this listener, the sense of underlying profundity present in the works of the great composers who were Bruckner’s contemporaries is largely absent from the Symphony itself, and thus in the performance of it.
When: Repeated on November 18 & 19
Where: Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center
