June 2, 2018
The San Antonio Symphony came close to shuting down in the middle ofthis season because of financial embarrassment, but the final concert of its rescued classical subscription series proved to be an embarrrassmentof riches – musically speaking, at least.
A lustrous, virtually flawless account of Tchaikovsky’s Francesca da Rimini was the capstone, preceded by splendidperformances of the same composer’s Mozartiana and piano concertos by
Mozart and Prokofiev. The orchestra, music director Sebastian Lang-Lessing and guest pianists Olga Kern and her son, Vladislav Kern, were all in finest fettle.
Ms. Kern first appeared with this orchestra playing the Schumann concerto in 2001, a few months after sharing (with Stanislav Ioudenitch) the gold medal in the Eleventh Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. She returned in 2016, playing Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, and she served as the orchestra’s artist in residence for 2017-18 – she opened the season last September with Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2. For the season’s close, she broke out of the Romantic box with Prokofiev’s brilliant Piano Concerto No. 1 and, paired with her son, Mozart’s Concerto in E-flat for Two Pianos.
Prokofiev composed his First Piano Concerto in 1911-12 as a vehicle for his own gargantuan technique. Some passages, especially in the final allegro, are outrageous in their athleticism and show-off razzmatazz. Ms. Kern tamed the technical challenges with seeming ease and enormous power, and she also was able to weave a clear melodic arc through all the complex filigree. It is for good reason that she has become a favorite of San Antonio audiences. Vladislav Kern matched his mother’s stylish playing, virtually phrase for phrase, in the outer allegros of the Mozart concerto. He showed more independence in the central Andante, bringing an extra measure of suppleness and warmth to his part. He showed impressive technical chops and ample left-hand power in the first of his two solo encores, Chopin’s “Waterfall” Etude in C, Op. 10, No. 1, but the A Minor Etude (Op. 10, No. 2) unfolded more tentatively.
The two Tchaikovsky works on this program are stylistic opposites. Mozartiana, comprising adaptations of four Mozart pieces, pays homage to the lightness and clarity of the classical style but at the same time is recognizably Tchaikovsky. Francesca da Rimini, inspired by a story of forbidden love from Dante’s Inferno, is altogether original, one of Tchaikovsky’s boldest, wildest and most forward-looking pieces.
With Mr. Lang-Lessing at the helm, both got their due in astonishingly polished performances. The strings produced a luxurious sheen and impressive ensemble precision in Mozartiana. The third movement “Prayer,” based on a Liszt transcription of Mozart’s “Ave Verum Corpus,” brought forth a diaphanous sound from the strings. Concertmaster Eric Gratz played his extensive solo in the finale with wonderful depth and warmth of tone and commanding technique.
Francesca da Rimini got a triumphant performance, meeting the highest international standard in individual virtuosity, section teamwork and whole-orchestra precision. The details were admirably clear, tornadic climaxes ear-popping, the big picture compelling from first to last. Bravi.
Mike Greenberg
Olga Kern
Photo: Chris Lee
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A triumphant close to a troubled season
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SA Symphony, SLL, Olga Kern, Vladislav Kern