ORCHESTRA LEAVES SMILING FACES AFTER TCHAIKOVSKY SPECTACULAR
Judith White

The Saratogian
Aug 19 2008
NY

The air dripped with musical passion instead of rain on Saturday at
the Saratoga Performing Arts Center as a full moon smiled down on
the Philadelphia Orchestra’s annual Tchaikovsky Spectacular.

Maestro Charles Dutoit offered a program focused on the great Russian
composer’s ballet music, along with the debut of a wonderful young
violinist, and the essential "1812," the "Solemn Overture."

The concert began with a sensitive treatment of the overture to Romeo
and Juliet Although it’s been played here a gazillion times in the
past, there was nothing perfunctory in this performance. Dutoit
reached deep and found something new, while keeping the familiar
urgency. Phrases in the opening section were put on display, while
the finale brought the most lush string sound heard here in some time.

The Philadelphia Orchestra’s last recording, with Christoph Eshenbach
conducting, was released this past spring, featuring music by
Tchaikovsky. It’s a good benchmark for comparison with Dutoit’s style.

Never before performed by the Philadelphians, Igor Stravinsky’s
orchestration of Excerpts from Sleeping Beauty added an extra layer of
interest to the evening. The first of the three excerpts, The Lilac
Fairy Variation, had been omitted from the ballet after its first
production and Stravinsky worked on it from just a piano transcription.

Here, Concertmaster David Kim played the solo with exquisite tenderness
from the front of the stage.

The concert’s guest violinist, Armenian-born Sergey Khachatryan, 23,
is already an international star of considerable acclaim, and has
played at the Ravinia and Blossom festivals, and toured the U.S. with
the London Philharmonic. In 2000 he was the youngest ever winner of
the Sibelius Violin Competition in Finland.

On this night the intense, somewhat brooding musician put his own
particular brand on Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, playing with
carefully chosen phrasing and often leaving space for anticipation.

His first movement’s cadenza was dramatic and wonderfully varied in
approach, and he displayed a knife-clean tone as he made a nearly
mournful entry to the second movement.

In the fast third movement, Khachatryan was far from reckless, but
nevertheless managed to lose Dutoit and the orchestra for a few beats
along the way. His expressiveness held the audience rapt. He missed
landing a couple of high note harmonics along the way, but not by much.

This soloist is a keeper, and maybe Saratoga can teach him to smile
a bit during return visits.

And smiles were on most of the audience’s faces as the Philadelphians
played the famous 1812 Overture at the close of this concert.

The cannons are meant to represent the sounds of the fierce battle,
and synchronizing their shots with the score is always an issue. If
this performance is any indication, Russia wouldn’t have hit a single
target. No matter: prettier fireworks came after the concert, in the
night sky above the Hall of Springs.

The Philadelphia Orchestra performs at SPAC again at 8
p.m. Aug. 20. with a "Midsummer’s Night’s Dream" program. For tickets
or information, call 584-9330

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress