The Hartford Symphony Orchestra’s May Masterworks concert is a portrait of Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) that not only displays the versatility of both composer and performers, but also traces one artist’s fraught interactions with an oppressive government. The program includes three works spanning Shostakovich’s career: Tahiti Trot, Op. 16 (1927); Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major, Op. 107 (1959); and Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47 (1937).
The program was conducted by Music Director Carolyn Kuan, whose dynamic artistry and strong presence was evident in both her conducting and her preconcert talk. The lecture was an engaging prelude to the evening and gave listeners a welcome overview of the ambitious works on the program. After describing how the first composition was arranged by Shostakovich in approximately 40 minutes to win a bet, Kuan gave a brief tour of the Fifth Symphony, using recorded examples to illustrate important landmarks. The most exciting part of the talk came when cellist Jay Campbell joined her to discuss the Cello Concerto and perform short excerpts in a tantalizing preview of what was to come.
The concert began with Tahiti Trot, a delightful arrangement of the song “Tea for Two” that reveals Shostakovich’s playful side. The work makes effective use of different orchestra colors, particularly muted brasses and percussion effects. The HSO’s interpretation highlighted the quirky orchestration and emphasized the teasing nature of the music by pushing forward and pulling back, both in tempo and dynamics.
The first half concluded with Campbell joining the HSO in Shostakovich’s first cello concerto. This staple of the cello repertoire demands both virtuosity and sensitivity from the soloist. As the cellist for the groundbreaking Jack Quartet, Campbell is no stranger to 20th- and 21st-century repertoire, and he brought to the piece a confidence and intensity that was matched by the orchestra.
The composition breaks from the three-movement concerto model by expanding the traditional cadenza into its own movement. The opening sets out a striking motive that forms the basis for the first movement and later returns at climactic moments in movements III and IV. The rest of the movement is an intense ride that could almost stand alone. At the conclusion of that movement, audience members erupted in shouts and applause, fully appreciating the impressive nature of Campbell’s performance.
The second movement is the expected slow movement, featuring contrasting material inspired by folk music. The third movement is an extended solo for the cellist that gradually builds momentum leading into the rhythmic finale. Despite Campbell’s confession during the preconcert lecture that the third movement was extremely difficult and “scary” to perform, he brought the music to life vividly, drawing the listener in with soft velvety tones and delicate pizzicatos separated by pregnant silences before astounding them with fierce, technical playing. Movements II through IV are performed without pause, creating a long and intense sonic journey. The audience followed Campbell’s every utterance with rapt attention and launched into the first of the evening’s standing ovations when the work ended.
The final composition, Symphony No. 5 (1937), is an adaptation of the classical four-movement structure that shows off Shostakovich’s inventiveness in transforming his themes. The first movement is a dramatic sonata-allegro form, and Kuan’s deft handling of the many tempo changes enhanced the sense of sense of inevitable progression built into the music. The typical slow movement followed by a dance appear in reverse order here: The second movement is a raucous scherzo and trio reminiscent of Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique, while the third is a heart-wrenching requiem featuring gorgeous counterpoint. The last movement is in three parts: an aggressive march, a more restrained slow section, and a return of the march that builds to a grandiose climax. When its final notes dissipated, the HSO received its second standing ovation of the night.
Kuan’s interpretation and the orchestra’s execution were impressive. A number of HSO members stood out as soloists in this piece (and the other works), performing with both technical mastery and nuanced expressivity. Still, though the symphony is monumental—spanning approximately 50 minutes total—the prolonged break taken by the ensemble between movements felt not like a welcome respite but like a jarring disruption that momentarily removed the listener from the spell cast by the music. That said, the HSO’s performance was superb, and works such as this helped to cement Shostakovich’s well-deserved reputation as one of the foremost symphonic composers of the 20th century. This concert is not to be missed!
The Hartford Symphony Orchestra’s Shostakovich 5 program continues Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. at at the Bushnell’s Belding Theater, 166 Capitol Ave., Hartford. Tickets are $35 to $58, 860-987-5900 and thebushnell.org.
