In the midst of a month of cold weather and challenging storms, it was a pleasure to enter the Belding and think about love. The Hartford Symphony Orchestra continued its 2014-2015 Masterworks Series in the Belding Theater at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, with a program led by Music Director and Conductor Carolyn Kuan. It was a program filled with music inspired by thoughts of love.
Thursday night’s concert began with the Overture to Tannhäuser by Richard Wagner. This overture, with its infamous juxtaposition of spiritual and carnal love got a strong start with vivid balances in an extended passage for two clarinets, two horns and two bassoons. There was some fine sectional viola playing, and the voice of Venus, scored by Wagner for solo clarinet, was also memorable.
Pianist Sean Chen joined the orchestra as soloist in the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor. The Rachmaninoff second concerto is one of the most romantic concerti of all time, and its themes have appeared in love movies and in popular music for generations.
Chen was one of the medal winners in the 14th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2013, and has been making the rounds as a concerto soloist with an impressive series of engagements. He brought clarity to the piano writing, and frequently played with minimal pedaling. This allowed us to hear the rich and complicated twists in the figuration that are often lost in blur. His rubato shifts were not always possible for the orchestra to follow during the first tutti, but soon afterward things settled.
The tune of the second movement is so gorgeous that one can forgive performances that just allow it to sing. But Chen emphasized cross rhythms (marked by Rachmaninoff with downward stems), and brought out the delicious tension between tune and accompaniment. Kuan also heightened these frictions in the orchestra with terrific results. The third movement was powerful and persuasive and the entire hall launched into a standing ovation within an eighth-note of the final chord.
After intermission we heard the Three Dance Episodes from “On the Town” by Leonard Bernstein. In addition to the music, we were treated to a series of projected images from the Wadsworth Atheneum’s current exhibition “Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland, 1861–2008.” Chief Curator Robin Jaffee Frank was on hand to articulate the collection and its connection to the “On the Town.” The images felt natural and connected to the energy of the music. The performance was taught but spiced with saucy jazz playing from the orchestra.
Stravinsky’s 1919 version of “The Firebird” closed the event. Though there is a love connection within this ballet, we loved it for its palette of orchestral colors. From start to finish Kuan did an excellent job in managing details and clarifying the range of colors. The balances were often thrilling and featured wonderfully controlled playing at the extremes of loud and quiet dynamics. The sound of the basses was edged above the section celli at the opening of the work. The bass drum shot that focused the “Infernal Dance of King Kastchei” was so loud that startled shoulders popped up all over the hall. But at the end of the “Berceuse” the sectional string playing became quiet enough that one could hear every note played with effortless grace on the harp.
We have lived in a world that is largely covered in white snow. The bright colors of this program were every bit as welcome as its thoughts and insights about love.
HARTFORD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA’S “Rachmaninoff & Firebird” concert series continues 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 13 and 14; and 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 15, at in the Belding Theater at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, 166 Capitol Ave., Hartford. For tickets: 860-987-5900 or hartfordsymphony.org.
