San Antonio Symphony
Piazzolla's "Seasons," fattened up but with 'nuevo tango'
pulse, soul and eros intact
May 1, 2010If less is more, it follows that more is less.
The San Antonio Symphony’s all-20th-century concert of April 30 included a case in service of each of those two points, with Sergei Rachmaninoff’s (relatively) lean Symphony No. 3 and Leonid Desyatnikov’s fattened version of Astor Piazzolla’s “Four Seasons of Buenos Aires.” The concert opened with Joaquin Turina’s colorful “Danzas fantásticas.” The orchestra’s concertmaster, Ertan Torgul, was the superb violin soloist in the “Seasons.” The guest conductor was Josep Caballé-Domenech.
Argentina was Piazzolla’s homeland, but the world was his oyster. The traditional folk tango was just the starting point for his music, which incorporated jazz, baroque and modernist elements in works of high ambition and great harmonic and contrapuntal complexity. He most often wrote for a quintet comprising bandoneón, violin, piano, electric guitar and double-bass -- the original instrumentation of “Las cuatro estaciones porteñas.” After Piazzolla’s death in 1992, Desyatnikov reconceived the work as a virtuoso vehicle for violinist Gidon Kremer, with string orchestra. Although Piazzolla is still recognizable in it, Desyatnikov’s version comes closer in style to a European Romantic violin concerto, and the Russian added some distracting quotes and allusions to Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons.” Too many cooks.
The solo part is highly demanding of technique (both classical and extended) and stamina -- it hardly lets up for a busy half-hour of music, except during a long, bluesy cello solo in “Winter,” played beautifully here by Kenneth Freudigman.
Torgul proved more than equal to the challenge of the central role. His slides and squeaks and slaps and angular rhythms were fully true to Piazzolla’s “nuevo tango” style, and he integrated these techniques seamlessly into the European sensibility that Desyatnikov brought to the part. His tone was lively, his color resources vast. Some of this music is very erotic, and Torgul played it that way.
Rachmaninoff’s Third Symphony of 1936 stands under the shadow of the more-opulent and melodically gushier Second. The third is a better piece, however -- the melodies more interesting, the harmonies more advanced, the ideas more inventive, the Russian character more assertive.
Turina, like his contemporary and countryman Manuel de Falla, combined a Spanish folk sensibility with Parisian sophistication. “Danzas fantásticas” is an ingratiating and energetic piece, richly colored. The delicate middle movement, “Ensueño,” is an ideal respite between the grand “Exaltación” and the wild “Orgía.”
Caballé-Domenech conducted the whole evening with a keen ear for the big picture and an irresistible sense of flow. The orchestra’s response was sometimes tentative in the details, but on the whole the performances were exciting and great fun.
It was also great fun to see the Majestic Theater’s mezzanine and balcony nearly filled with young people. School buses lined up on Houston and St. Mary’s streets indicated groups from the North East, East Central, Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City and Cotulla (!) school districts.
Mike
Greenberg
