The Strauss Emperor Waltzes were a light and lovely start to the concert. In this piece in particular, the quality of the playing and the crisp attention between conductor and performer was at its highest throughout the concert. Entrances were very precise and I felt that the string section achieved a warm richness. I had to ask myself – Is it just me, or has the Seattle Symphony significantly improved under Ludovic Mortlot’s baton?
As an atonal complement to the Emperor Waltzes, the Symphony invited pianist Jonathan Biss to debut the Schoenberg Piano Concerto, Op 42. Schoenberg can be unpleasantly angular to the uninitiated due to his modern and reactionary composition style, using mathematical matrices to create his works. It does take a little time to warm up to the peaks and valleys of his musical style, but once you get it, there is a certain kind of magic in listening to his unique voice. And even with a fair amount of listening, Schoenberg isn’t for everyone – and there was some negative chatter on the floor from those sitting behind me and on their way to the restroom about the piece simply given the fact that it was atonal. However, I think the Symphony does itself a good turn to keep these kinds of pieces in the repertoire, as they are an important part not only of the musical oeuvre at large but also a good way to expand listener’s preferences. We’ll always have Mozart, but atonal works of the 20th century are of equal historical and artistic importance, and it’s nice to see a mix of musical choices in one program. Additionally, while this piece certainly isn’t for everyone, Biss’ playing and finesse of this piece has to be commended on the basis of skill alone. Biss certainly understand Schoenberg’s unique voice and is able to not only deliver it coherently, but put his own polish on all of the angry, jangly bits.
On the other hand, I do feel the link between the Strauss and the Schoenberg could have been stated more plainly. While the program reflects a desire to link together two important works which reference Vienna, I felt that neither the program notes nor the introduction by Ludovic Morlot spoke to the deeper artistic choices for marrying these two pieces into one program.
The Brahms 2 was not quite up to the level of attentive detail shown in the previous two pieces, but still very enjoyable; I found the orchestra and conductor not quite together for a few moments in the first movement. Nonetheless, the woodwinds worked to create a charming third movement and the piece ended on a high note, so to speak. All in all, the concert was a mini musical tour through Vienna, which I found to be a very nice way to spend an afternoon.