November 29, 2024
Jones Hall
Houston, Texas – USA
Houston Symphony, Juraj Valčuha, conductor; Yefim Bronfman, piano.
Franz SCHUBERT: Symphony No. 8 in B Minor (“Unfinished”) (1822)
Alban BERG: Three Pieces for Orchestra (1914, rev. 1929)
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 5 (“Emperor”) (1809)
Lawrence Wheeler | 30 NOV 2024
Saturday, November 29, was the first of three concerts with the Houston Symphony at Jones Hall this weekend. These concerts, which marked the beginning of the “Vienna Calling Festival,” featured the return of music director Juraj Valčuha, who was joined by pianist Yefim Bronfman in a program that included works by Viennese composers Franz Schubert, Alban Berg, and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Valčuha was born in Bratislava, Slovakia, which is a mere 42 miles from Vienna, Austria, either by road or traversing the Danube River. He last conducted the Houston Symphony seven weeks ago. In between, the orchestra hosted Donald Runnicles, Michael Tilson Thomas, and a conductorless concert led by concertmaster Yoonshin Song. His return to the podium Friday had somewhat variable results
The program began with Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony, consisting of only two completed movements. Some considered it the first Romantic symphony, though that title has also been given to Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony. Where Beethoven’s music is based upon rhythm and harmony, Schubert’s Eighth Symphony emphasizes song-like lyricism, instrumental timbre, and flexible pulse.
It is the quintessential Viennese symphony. In achieving that style, the strings’ bow speed should be given precedent over pressure in making crescendos, and sforzandos (strong accents) require a “vrraah” rather than “paahh” sound. These stylistic elements were not fully realized this evening, and musical concepts were not unified. Quarter note downbeats were of varying lengths, with the winds generally longer than the strings. The strings’ staccato eighth notes were played with different strokes in different parts of the bow. Some violin passages were played with a mix of little and no vibrato, and tended to sound colorless rather than sensitive or mysterious. The solo woodwinds played beautifully, with principal flute Aralee Dorough leading the way. Trombones were well tuned and discreetly balanced. French horns were a favorite of Viennese composers, often treated heroically. Here, lyrical melodies are featured throughout, eloquently played by Robert Johnson.
This music tells a story that includes sadness, melancholy, nostalgia, tenderness, vulnerability, determination, and resignation. Valčuha seemed to be more focused on maintaining the beat and controlling dynamics.
The second movement is more straightforward, with none of the halted musings and silences of the first. The movement begins and ends with bass pizzicatos feeling like footsteps of destiny. A continuous musical thread runs through even the thinnest parts. Both the first and second movements are in triple meter (¾ and ⅜). The first movement, “Allegro moderato,” has a slower qualifier (“moderato”), while the “Andante con moto” has a faster qualifier (“con moto”). This can result in both movements having the same tempo. Valčuha’s tempo for the second movement was slightly slower, avoiding this duplication. But Schubert could not avoid another triple meter Scherzo for the discarded third movement, a fact that may have contributed to his leaving the “Unfinished” unfinished. Extant sketches for a Scherzo show music of a lesser quality than the near-perfect first two. He didn’t return to this symphony before he died at age 31. To our loss, his destiny was to live a life musically unfinished.
Houston Symphony music director Juraj Valčuha in 2022. (courtesy of Houston Symphony)
Leaving no time to exhale, Valčuha immediately began Berg’s Three Pieces for Orchestra. While posted notices on the hall’s side screens had informed the audience there would be no pause or applause, the jump from the First Viennese School to the Second Viennese School was jarring. It is not clear what Valčuha intended, but this served only to push Schubert out the door. To his credit, the performance was quite good. Valčuha seemed more comfortable with the complex rhythms and atonal dissonances of the dense, expressionistic orchestration.
In the Berg, emotion is not overtly expressed but results from context: the confluence of rhythm, dynamics, and harmony. This places the priority on the technical demands of conducting, a strong point for Valčuha. The three pieces (movements) are symphonic in conception. The third piece, Marsch (“March”), was composed later than the first two pieces, Präludium (“Prelude”) and Reigen (“Round Dance”). Written weeks after the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, it reflects the emotional pre-war climate through a macabre nature.
The Houston Symphony musicians did an excellent job with this challenging score. The percussion section is featured extensively, beginning with soft tam-tams (gongs) and ending with loud hammer blows, as in Mahler’s Sixth Symphony. A string quintet contributed fine solos. Aided by the newly improved hall acoustics, a stunning range of dynamics was displayed throughout.
Pianist Yefim Bronfman is one of the world’s premier pianists and a popular guest artist with the Houston Symphony. He has a commanding presence at the keyboard but forgoes any superfluous display of technique or emotion. His playing is best heard with eyes closed. His interpretation of Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto was classically oriented, straightforward, and with virtually no rubato. Bronfman displayed his prodigious technique in the two opening cadenzas that follow orchestral chords. Power with crystal clarity was to be the norm throughout the first movement. The orchestral tutti was led and played with high definition and spirit, with the rhythmic first theme falling in Valčuha’s wheelhouse. Ensemble with the solo piano was excellent since there was no second-guessing of entrances following solo piano runs. Of note was a high toybox-sounding passage that Bronfman played with uncommon delicacy, which was answered by the French horns.
Valčuha led a sensitive and expressive second movement, “Adagio un poco mosso.” Together with Bronfman’s exquisite playing, this was the emotional high point of the concert. A rhythmically syncopated Rondo broke the spell. Remaining firmly in his seat, Bronfman made the music bounce, with Valčuha and the orchestra responding in kind. Following the final three chords, the Jones Hall audience gave an extended standing ovation. After several curtain calls, Bronfman offered an encore, Chopin’s Revolutionary Etude. Played con fuoco (with fire) and virtually devoid of rubato, it was a stunning display of pianistic technique. ■
This program will be repeated on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon, with a livestream on Saturday.
EXTERNAL LINKS:
- Houston Symphony: houstonsymphony.org
- Juraj Valčuha: jurajvalcuha.com
- Yefim Bronfman: opus3artists.com/artists/yefim-bronfman
Read more by Lawrence Wheeler.
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