This week's San Francisco Symphony concert was the subject of two
preview pieces by my fellow examiner, Scott Foglesong, one for each of
the compositions on the program. The first half consisted of Joseph
Haydn's B-flat major sinfonia concertante
(Hoboken I/105), with solo parts for violin (Dan Nobuhiko Smiley),
cello (Peter Wyrick), oboe (Jonathan Fischer) and bassoon (Stephen
Paulson). This was followed, after the intermission, by Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart's K. 361 serenade, also in B-flat major, scored for, as Joshua Kosman put it in his San Francisco Chronicle review
"a dozen wind instruments and one lone bass." Neither of these works
is performed in concert very often, although, by virtue of the "tag
team" programming that sometimes surfaces between the San Francisco
Symphony and the Midsummer Mozart Festival, K. 361 was last performed as
part of last summer's Festival. On the other hand the last time the Symphony performed the Haydn was in 1982.
Folgelsong's
previews focused on the music, but this concert also marked the return
of conductor Bernard Labadie for the first of two programs. Last year
Labadie prepared an all-Haydn program,
which provided excellent compensation for a general lack of attention
being devoted to such an imaginative composer. Next week's program will
consist entirely of the music of George Frideric Handel, most likely
with far more attention to the music than this composer was given this week.
In
dealing with both Haydn and Mozart, Labadie found just the right
balance between managing the large structures and summoning the details
as an engine to drive the performance forward. I was particularly aware
of his management of the details of dynamics, not just in innovative
approaches to the contrast of loud and soft but also in the subtle use
of the Mannheim approach to gradual dynamic change (not, however, through the more massive "Mannheim Roller"
effect). Both compositions involved voices that served "double duty"
as both soloist and member of the ensemble; and much of Labadie's
dynamic control facilitated the movements of each of the soloists
between these two roles.
As far as large structures are concerned,
K. 361 is one of Mozart's longest compositions strictly for
instruments. In addition to having eight movements, the composition is
extended by techniques such as adding an extra trio to a menuetto
structure. This is all in the interest of exploring the diversity of
sounds offered by the two oboes, two clarinets, two basset horns, four
French horns, two bassoons, and that "lone bass." There are clearly a
lot of sounds to explore, and Mozart takes his time bringing each to the
foreground. Labadie provided the proper pace through which none of
these "visiting sounds" overstayed their respective welcomes.
Finally,
it is worth recognizing that most concert-goers associate the sinfonia
concertante with Mozart's K. 364, with solo parts for violin and viola.
Haydn composed his sinfonia concertante in 1792, only a few
months after Mozart's death. It is reasonable to assume that Haydn was
aware of K. 364 and may even have been familiar with it. From that
point of view, the conclusion of Haydn's final movement, in which violin
and cello trade off in cadenza-like gestures ascending to their
respective upper registers, may well have served as a memorial,
recalling the similar way in which Mozart had concluded K. 364. If that
was intended to be the case, then Haydn had certainly found the perfect
way to honor Mozart's recent departure.
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