EMERGENCY
PROGRAMMING, SANS CELLIST
And without Fjords in Finland, Either
By Paul Hertelendy
artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area music
and dance
Week of Nov. 13-20, 2009
Vol. 12, No. 36
A
last-minute medical emergency had the S.F. Symphony scrambling and
revising
repertory the day of the concert, due to the cancellation of French
cellist
Gautier Capuçon, 28.
That
forced the cancellation of the Schumann Cello Concerto. Fortunately,
the SFS
found out about the problem before the morning rehearsal (Nov. 12), and
was
able to run through the substitutions by Ravel: “Pavane pour une
enfante
défunte” (Pavane for a Dead Princess) and
“La valse.”
Was this the curse of an
impending Friday the 13th?
The SFS
declined to give any details about Capuçon’s medical
emergency, which was divulged with an on-stage announcement at the
start of the
matinee concert.
The management
would not
even indicate what hospital he might have checked into. The
troubling morning-after
statement reads ominously, “We won’t be making
any further comment on the Gautier Capuçon
cancellation at this time.”
The
program changes meant giving up a three-nationality
slate of music in favor of a mostly French one under Russian guest
conductor
Semyon Bichkov, who at least knows the repertory, thanks in part to his
extensive work
in Paris.
The
highlight was “Métaboles” (Metamorphoses, 1964) by Henri
Dutilleux, 93, probably the figure among living composers with the
longest
active creative span, after centenarian Elliott Carter. Heard here
twice
before, this adroit invention has a domino structure---Its five sections have themes derived from the
predecessor.
The
16-minute piece is assertive and aggressive, with
agitated and staccato figures. Dutilleux loves to work the woodwinds,
ranging
from a unique sound texture at the start (vaguely related to “The Rite
of
Spring”) to a cadenza by a pair of flutes. He also manages some
alluring string
sounds along the way in a rather cool work meticulously organized and
intriguing to hear.
That
work was itself a substitution for the originally
announced “Shoreless
River” by the
contemporary German Detlev Glanert.
Guest
conductor Semyon Bychkov could not work the same
magic with Sibelius’ Symphony No. 5 as he had the week before with
Rachmaninoff’s
Symphony No. 2. But given the revised programs, rehearsal time was
clearly at a
premium. Here too the woodwinds (with horns) provided a memorable
opening, followed
by the mournful bassoon solo of Stephen Paulson. The finale goes to the
haunting theme that looks like a string of upside-down V’s on the music
page,
leaping langorously up and down a fifth or more, until the romantic
opus
concludes with the famous six vehement chords, as if recalling
Beethoven’s “blows
of fate.” Still, Sibelius gave it his own Finnish twist.
The
Sibelius recalls a legendary mistake in the 1930s, in a
review by the respected music critic Olin Downes in the New York Times,
where
he said the composer’s music brought to mind “the fjords of Finland.”
Numerous Finns and travelers reminded him that Finland
has no fjords. Think Norway,
Olin!
The
substitute Ravel works got a perfunctory treatment: correct, but
without commitment. A bit like a first date, without the
goodnight kiss.
These
San Francisco Symphony concerts continue through Dec. 14 at 8 p.m. For
info: (415) 864-6000, or go online.
Broadcasts on KDFC-FM (102.1) at 8 p.m. on the second Tuesday following.
©Paul Hertelendy 2009
#
Paul Hertelendy has been
covering
the dance and modern-music scene in the San Francisco Bay Area with
relish
-- and a certain amount of salsa -- for years.
These critiques appearing weekly (or sometimes semi-weekly, but never
weakly)
will focus on dance and new musical creativity in performance, with
forays
into books (by authors of the region), theater and recordings by local
artists as well.
#
Return to main menu