September 2012 listings for the New York Philharmonic

A wonderfully balanced program, this, with two unjustly neglected 20th Century works paired with a perennial. Mr. Kavakos and the Orchestra gave committed performance to the lyricism and romanticism inherent in Korngold's writing. The Nielsen Third Symphony is a delightful harbinger of Maestro Gilbert's decision to perform and record all six of them. The offbeats and grace notes characterizing the First Movement, hemiola and all --- it seems to me the "Eroica" Symphony of Beethoven was the model for this movement, at least --- were given their full measure. Curiously, there's a solo viola and 'cello briefly called for in this movement. The pastorale Second Movement --- a sound of nature if ever there was one --- shown with the perfect fifths of the bassoons doubled by the horns as the strings intoned their modal melody. The soprano and baritone vocalise blended well, the score indicating them to be offstage. As the principal theme was reprised, the contrabasses are instructed to employ scordatura and tuned their low E-string to E-flat. The Third Movement allowed the woodwinds to predominate; and the three oboes did so mellifluously in their solo. The Fourth Movement began sonorously --- the first and second violins playing the melody on the G-string as indicated in the score --- so much so that if Elgar were the composer, he surely would have written his unique "nobilmente", for that was how the theme sounded. (Nielsen never used the term "nobilmente".) The only surprise, though, was a change of tempo 19 bars from the end of the movement not written in the score --- at rehearsal number 13 --- that afforded a faster conclusion.