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The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
By
David Amos
About two
years ago I was in New York, and attended a concert by the Orpheus Chamber
Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. This respected ensemble was recently presented by
the La Jolla Music Society in concert at San Diego’s Civic Theatre, and gave
me the opportunity to re-address some of my previous comments in the review of
2004.
For the Carnegie Hall
concert, I was quite critical of the orchestra’s lack of pliability (being a
conductorless ensemble), in adjusting to the subtle give-and-take that was so
badly needed in the Piano Concerto in A
Minor by Schumann. I would be the first one to complain about an ineffective
conductor, but at the same time, would jump to find the merits of a particular
maestro, and as is in this case, to point out that the Schumann Concerto simply
did not fly because of its rigidity, in music that is begging for lyricism and
beauty of melodic line.
But the San Diego
performance was different. Why? Because the repertoire performed here lent
itself to a more satisfying evening, where the uncomfortable stiffness I
experienced in New York was far less evident.
The Orpheus Chamber
Orchestra is a group of magnificent musicians. It is self-governing in both the
administrative and artistic ends. All decisions are made together, and the
musicians have developed an amazing way of solving at rehearsals the
communication that is necessary for a group that performs without a conductor.
Think of it as a very large string quartet, where everyone has a voice in the
final musical results.
At the Civic Theatre,
Orpheus opened the evening with J.S. Bach’s Orchestral
Suite No. 1. True, Bach’s entire oeuvre is practically beyond any
reproach, but this particular work has never “spoken to me” very well, as do
the Suites No. 2 and 4. Nevertheless,
it is vintage Bach, and the performance, as I expected, was impeccable. I was
most impressed with the quality of the woodwinds. Such refined, tasteful playing
of this level is not routinely heard in live concerts.
The OCO continued
with a new work commissioned by the orchestra to the respected American composer
Joan Tower. We heard the West Coast Premiere of the Chamber
Dance. This is a wonderful, colorful work, expressly written to highlight
the many talents of the musicians. It is in a fairly contemporary language,
which I found totally acceptable and accessible. I hope that everyone else
present felt the same way, because this piece radiated plenty of energy, and the
execution could hardly be any better.
Then, in the second half, came the work I was anxiously looking forward to
hearing, the monumental Piano Concerto No.
5 in E flat Major, “The Emperor,” by Beethoven. About a year ago I guest
conducted this work someplace else, and it is very fresh in my mind. It is a
popular, beloved concerto with great power and beauty, but it also has its
difficult technical spots, a challenge for any conductor, to say nothing of an
orchestra without a competent conductor to cue, keep time, and adjust to the
interpretive demands of the soloist.
But, it worked out
very well. Why? For starters, this is a classical concerto; yes, well into the
Romantic period, but its roots are in a style where ”rubato” flexibility is
uncalled for. It lends itself better to Beethoven.
But more importantly,
the piano soloist was Leon Fleisher. He is one of the undisputed masters of the
keyboard of the second half of the 20th century, and his recordings
from the ’50s and ’60s are legendary and historic. Fleisher career was
tragically halted for many years with a severe ailment to his right hand, and
only in recent years he has returned to the concert hall, playing with both
hands.
The performance of
the Beethoven Concerto was not flawless, and at times, you could hear the lack
of absolute precision and transparency we have become accustomed to hear from
world class artists. But the bottom line is that it did not matter. As I wrote
in an article in Jewish Times a few
weeks ago (on “wrong notes”), what counts are the rest
of the notes, the beauty, the understanding of the work, the message that really
makes for satisfying music. And in this category, the OCO and Fleisher were at
their best.
Certain compromises
were made to avoid the technical traps, but I was most pleased to hear the
results of intelligent and creative rehearsing. This is where it all comes
together, and what the public hears is the final product, the interpretation of
the soloist, and the musical support of the accompanying orchestra. While this
performance lacked the fire and brilliance of the recording Fleisher made over
40 years ago with George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra, it was more than
compensated with insight, depth, and beautiful musical lines.
What matters is if we
exit the theater at the end of a concert with a feeling of satisfaction, that we
enjoyed ourselves, that it met our artistic expectations, and that the
composer’s intentions were properly conveyed. Four out of four is not bad at
all.