Esprit Orchestra. Lisa Streich: Ishjärta. Peter Eötvös: Violin Concerto No. 2 “DoReMi” (Akiko Suwanai, soloist). Andrew Norman: Sustain. Alex Pauk, conductor. In Koerner Hall, March 27, 2025.
In a downsizing world, Alex Pauk thinks big. The founding artistic director and conductor of Esprit Orchestra assembled a cohort of 92 players Thursday night to perform works by three internationally eminent composers, two of them living and present in Koerner Hall. The results were engaging if sometimes a tad protracted and overwrought. Anton Webern is not the influential figure he once was.
The longest piece — about seven minutes longer than the 25 minutes advertised in the printed program — was Sustain (2018) by Andrew Norman, an American with many awards to his credit. After a crisp ignition by two pianos tuned at a quarter-tone, a figure for descending strings took root, accelerating with each of 10 repetitions. One might suppose there to be a risk of blurring as the tempo intensified but clever orchestration (notably by fluttering trumpets) kept the resolution keen.
It all led to a loud central climax, after which calm was restored, but not musical interest, as the motifs became increasingly familiar. The feeling of exhaustion was confirmed by the final seconds, which channelled John Cage by requiring the strings to mime a long tone rather than play it.
In his program note the 45-year-old composer laments an age of atomized information and upholds the value of listening to “a single, long unbroken musical thought.” Sustain certainly sounds integrated rather than fragmented and thus distinguishes itself from the run of contemporary grab-bags. But it is worth considering how rare it is to find a half-hour single movement in the standard repertoire and the prodigious level of mastery — by Bruckner or Mahler — associated with such an exploit.
Peter Eötvös: Violin Concerto No. 2 “DoReMi”
The late Peter Eötvös did not scruple to divide his 22-minute Violin Concerto No. 2 “DoReMi” (2011-12) into three movements, although listeners might well have detected stylistic demarcations within each, including references to the scalar figure referenced by the title. It is an exuberant score, sometimes romantic, sometimes cartoonish, sometimes in horror-movie mode, but always respectful of the language of tonality (if not necessary harnessed to it).
Akiko Suwanai, winner of the 1990 Tchaikovsky Competition, played with warmth and bravura. At points it sounded as if a little Bruch or Sibelius was about to break out. The orchestra under Pauk made positive contributions. There was an engaging dialogue in the third movement with the principal viola and harp. I am told that the performance was recorded, which would explain the forest of microphones on stage.
Lisa Streich: Ishjärta
The evening began with the North American premiere of Ishjärta (“ice-fire”) by Lisa Streich, 39, a Swedish composer whose recent distinctions include residencies at the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and Lucerne Festival.
Ostensibly about the contrast embodied by the title, this 15-minute score of 2022-23 trades very heavily in off-kilter tuning. Call me old-fashioned, but the case can be made that such techniques are more effective when applied selectively. A violent pulse emerged in the midst of the music, supposedly representing a human heart, although the sound was strictly mechanical.
The crowd, confined as usual to the parterre, were generous in their whooping applause. Streich and Norman took bows.
There is much stress these days on airing new works by Canadians. Credit Pauk and Esprit for keeping us abreast of international developments.
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