{"id":102843,"date":"2024-03-28T14:38:30","date_gmt":"2024-03-28T18:38:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=102843"},"modified":"2024-03-28T14:38:30","modified_gmt":"2024-03-28T18:38:30","slug":"scrutiny-sibelius-new-cello-concerto-detlev-glanert-offers-mixed-bag-tso","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2024\/03\/28\/scrutiny-sibelius-new-cello-concerto-detlev-glanert-offers-mixed-bag-tso\/","title":{"rendered":"SCRUTINY | Sibelius & New Cello Concerto By Detlev Glanert Offers A Mixed Bag From The TSO"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"L:
L: Osmo V\u00e4nsk\u00e4 (Photo: Lisa Marie Mazzucco); R: Composer Detlev Glanert and cellist Johannes Moser take a bow with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (Photo: Arthur Kaptainis)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Grieg: Peer Gynt Suite No. 1. Detlev Glanert: Cello Concerto (Johannes Moser, soloist). Sibelius: Symphony No. 2. Osmo V\u00e4nsk\u00e4, conductor. Roy Thomson Hall on March 27, 2024. Repeats March 28; tickets here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Much stress is placed these days on renewing the repertoire. The Toronto Symphony Orchestra on Wednesday demonstrated the pitfalls of introducing new works without thinking through the consequences.<\/p>\n

At the centre of this program in Roy Thomson Hall was the Cello Concerto by Detlev Glanert, a 60-year-old German best known in Europe for his operas. The world premiere was given January in Luxembourg by Johannes Moser under the baton of none other than Gustavo Gimeno, who remains music director of the Luxembourg Philharmonic as well as the TSO. These orchestras co-commissioned the work with the Cologne Philharmonie.<\/p>\n

Oddly, Gimeno delegated the North American premiere to a guest conductor, Osmo V\u00e4nsk\u00e4. I wonder how V\u00e4nsk\u00e4 can return the favour.<\/p>\n

Ostensibly written in three connected movements, the 32-minute score scans as a compendium of causeless effects, some quiet, some noisy, some dissonant, some not. We heard anguished long tones from the cello, a violent cadenza, blaring orchestral interludes and many, many pianissimo passages that lingered on the edge of audibility. It is a time-honoured alternative to writing music that means something.<\/p>\n

On no account could Moser, who projected cogently through all the comings and goings, be blamed. V\u00e4nsk\u00e4, a conductor of clear gestures and many of them, drew virtuoso playing from the orchestra. In his program notes Glanert claims to prioritize the balance of soloist and orchestra. You could indeed hear everything \u2014 for better or worse.<\/p>\n

It would be nice to report that V\u00e4nsk\u00e4 made amends after intermission with Sibelius\u2019s Symphony No. 2, a score that should be in this Finnish conductor\u2019s wheelhouse. It was certainly a brilliant performance, wherein lay the problem. With so many elements in the foreground \u2014 including, notably, penetrating brass \u2014 the elusive but mandatory element of atmosphere went missing. This sounded less like the heroic Second than the Concerto for Orchestra Sibelius never wrote.<\/p>\n

All the same, there were opportunities for the TSO to affirm its excellence. Pizzicati by cellos and basses in the Andante were spot-on. Woodwinds in the third movement offered welcome episodes of respite. They were in fine form also in Grieg\u2019s Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, the pops favourite with which the concert started. Moving things along smartly in Sibelius, V\u00e4nsk\u00e4 preferred slow tempos in Grieg. The dynamic range \u2014 from near-silent strings in Ase\u2019s Death to the overwhelming percussion of In the Hall of the Mountain King \u2014 was formidable.<\/p>\n

It should be noted that the audience did not share my reservations concerning the Glanert and the Sibelius, giving both hearty applause. Glanert was present to take a bow.<\/p>\n

The crowd was admirably quiet during the performances. No clapping between movements. Too bad snacking and boozing are now tolerated in the hall. A couple in the row ahead of me were washing down their popcorn with beer. A strong ale, by the smell of it.<\/p>\n

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With the premiere of a cello concerto by Detlev Glanert, and Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and conductor Osmo V\u00e4nsk\u00e4 offer a mixed bag.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":102846,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[40967,9,76,19,38,52,63],"tags":[41075,3981],"yst_prominent_words":[8235,15582,6613,19890,6843,6674,6637,6826,6683,6827,6825,19894],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/03\/Copy-of-CRITICS-PICKS-15.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-qKL","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102843"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102843"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102843\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102847,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102843\/revisions\/102847"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102843"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=102843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}