The Seattle Symphony performs works by Franz Schubert, Frédéric Chopin, and Nico Muhly tonight, January 28, at 8 p.m. at Benaroya Hall. More details and tickets are available at the Seattle Symphony website.
Ludovic Morlot’s been hard at work. Although it’s only been a few months into his first season as music director of the Seattle Symphony, Morlot has already made waves with his adventurous programming and fresh approach to the symphonic repertoire. Thursday night’s concert was no exception, sandwiching Schubert’s beloved “Unfinished” Symphony No. 8 between a world premiere by Nico Muhly and a performance of Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 by Marc-André Hamelin. The Symphony will perform the same program again tonight.
In many ways, these works are worlds apart. However, when they’re performed together as part of a unified program, listeners are invited to draw parallels between the pieces. In this way, a program that initially seems like a musical grab-bag is be transformed into an insightful exploration of a single musical concept. At Thursday’s concert, the theme of the night seemed to be musical texture. All three pieces on the program cycle through a wide variety of orchestral textures in a short amount of time, creating a musical landscape full of changing moods and colors.
The concert opened with Nico Muhly’s world premiere, a one-movement work playfully titled So Far So Good. Born in Vermont and currently based in New York City, Muhly is a young composer whose star is on the rise. Only thirty years old, he’s already racked up an impressive list of accomplishments, including an upcoming opera premiere at the Met, an ongoing gig as assistant to eminent composer Philip Glass, and collaborations with Björk.
In So Far So Good, Muhly uses repeating melodic themes and ever-shifting textures to create a work that is atmospheric and sonically rich. Contrasting textures in different sections of the orchestra are often combined and overlapped. For example, at the beginning of the work, Muhly juxtaposes a smooth, legato string part with short, staccato bursts from the brass and percussion. Morlot managed the flowing textures well, guiding the ensemble through sudden transitions and mood changes.
So Far So Good paired surprisingly well with the second piece on the program, Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony, another work that features dramatic shifts in mood and texture. Although Schubert was only able to complete the first two movements of the symphony before his death in 1828, the “Unfinished” is one of his most popular works. The piece flows rapidly through a huge spectrum of orchestral colors, ranging from a sweet, tender cello melody to grand gestures that utilize a full orchestral sound. The woodwind section sounded fantastic in the handful of solos and duets throughout the work, particularly Ben Hausmann on oboe, Christopher Sereque on clarinet, and Demarre McGill on flute.
The evening concluded with a performance of Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2, featuring Marc-André Hamelin as the soloist. Although Schubert and Chopin both heralded from the Romantic tradition of classical composition, the “Unfinished” Symphony is miles away from Chopin’s concerto in terms of tone and texture. Schubert’s Symphony focuses on a full range of orchestral sound, while Chopin’s work utilizes the orchestra to accentuate the expressive power of the piano.
One of the most technically skilled pianists alive today, Hamelin is known for pushing the limits of what is physically possible on the piano. In addition to his international acclaim as a concert pianist, he is well-known as the composer of “Circus Galop”, a work for player piano that many consider to be the world’s most difficult piano piece.
The Chopin piano concerto was an excellent choice to showcase a different side of Hamelin’s artistry. Although Chopin’s compositions call for a virtuosic technique, his music is full of tender moments in which a simple melodic passage is imbued with great emotional intensity. Hamelin struck a harmonious balance between flashy technique and musical expression, sailing through difficult fast passages without batting an eye, but bringing out a delicate singing tone in sections that were slower and more melodic.
Morlot’s conducting talent and leadership abilities earned Seattle Symphony a recent mention in the New York Times. NYT music critic Zachary Woolfe reviewed Thursday night’s concert and commented favorably on Morlot’s accomplishments and vision for the orchestra: “Watching Seattle in the coming years will be fun”. If the excitement of Thursday night’s performance is any indication, Seattle’s new maestro’s on the right track.
