The strangest concerts are those where all the programming elements are good, the artists know what they’re doing, they perform to the best of their ability, and still the results fail to impress. That was the case at Thursday’s matinée performance by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, pianist Janina Fialkowska and guest conductor James Gaffigan.
- Classical Music 101: What Does A Conductor Do? - June 17, 2019
- Classical Music 101 | What Does Period Instrument Mean? - May 6, 2019
- CLASSICAL MUSIC 101 | What Does It Mean To Be In Tune? - April 23, 2019
The focal point was the Toronto Symphony’s first-ever performance of a work many people consider to be a late-20th century classic: the 1988 Concerto for Piano and Orchestra by Polish composer Witold Lutoslawski. The organization programmed it in honour of the composer’s centenary, which falls this year.
The orchestra needs to be applauded for programming a work guaranteed not to sell a single extra ticket at the box office. It is an impressive piece of music, laid out in four seamless movements and culminating in a grand flurry of noise.
Lutoslawski, who had been an accomplished pianist, has filled the work with virtuoso passages that a great pianist can use to fine effect. Fialkowska, in her first public performance of the concerto, impressed with exemplary detail work and an overall fleetness that emphasized the score’s transparency.
Gaffigan was confident on the podium, teasing an equally clear and balanced sound from the orchestra. There is a lot of dialogue between soloist and ensemble throughout the piece — and, here again, the details were impeccably rendered.
But for all the effort, the bigger picture was hopelessly dull. The concerto’s larger silhouette disappeared behind a series of discrete moments.
The smallish number of orchestral players and deliberately spare musical style of the Lutoslawski concerto came in stark contrast to the happy excess of the opening work: Antonin Dvorák’s old-chestnut Carnival Overture. The Toronto Symphony players were doubled by the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra, with combined numbers that only just barely found enough space on the stage.
Gaffigan gave all of the solo passages to the young people, which age from 12 to 22. They did a great job and the overall sound was remarkably balanced and not too loud despite the numbers.
Here again, despite the great playing and confident direction, the middle of the Overture lost its way, becoming a series of episodes before the whole ensemble kicked up the volume again towards the end.
The story was the same for Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 2, one of the orchestral treasures of the late 19th century.
Gaffigan tended towards briskness, but the performance on Thursday afternoon was especially notable for its deep colours and rich timbres. Here was a conductor with a full command of his musical palette, and the effects, especially in the two slower interior movements, were seductive.
But they also sapped the piece of momentum; the middle movements emerged suspended in their own beauty rather than being related to something that came before and would come after.
My personal feeling of disappointment was magnified by the poor attendance — I estimate that only a third of the hall’s seats were filled. If this was any indication, there really is no point in continuing weekday matinée concerts at Roy Thomson Hall.
I also missed seeing younger faces in the audience, the ones that bring a lot of enthusiasm and energy into the hall for most of the Toronto Symphony’s evening concerts.
There is a repeat of the programme on Saturday evening, minus the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra. Details here.
John Terauds
- Classical Music 101: What Does A Conductor Do? - June 17, 2019
- Classical Music 101 | What Does Period Instrument Mean? - May 6, 2019
- CLASSICAL MUSIC 101 | What Does It Mean To Be In Tune? - April 23, 2019
