It is refreshing to hear an orchestral program in which the first piece is a world premiere performance written by the conductor. But all things are possible when the internationally renowned conductor Gerard Schwarz is at work. Schwarz returned to Hartford Thursday night to guest conduct the Hartford Symphony Orchestra in the 2014-2015 Masterworks Series in the Belding Theater at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts.
Three years ago Schwarz impressed HSO audiences with a program that included the Dvorak cello concerto played by his son Julian Schwarz. Julian returned with his father to play a different concerto for this concert.
The evening began with the world premiere of the “Symphonic Poem No. 1” by Gerard Schwarz. The 10-minute composition opened with a spare and attractive texture. The work slowly accumulated energy. Discordant wind lines occasionally rippled through textures with an Ivesian logic (and we like Ivesian logic in New England). After a rhythmic passage in 7/8 time the music built to a surprising and majestic close in F major.
Julian Schwarz joined the orchestra as soloist in the Saint-Saens Cello Concerto No. 1. The Saint-Saens concerto is filled with tricky figuration that can easily become the focal point of live performances. Schwarz heard beyond the virtuosic elements. Warmth and a variety of colors emerged in his lyrical playing. There was strong communication between father and son that made the detours, interruptions and unexpected parallelisms of this work coherent and persuasive. In place of an encore the audience was treated to the “Pezzo capriccioso” by Tchaikovsky. This charming six-minute work for solo cello and orchestra was fun to hear, and it revealed the influences of the Tchaikovsky style on the Saint-Saens concerto.
After intermission we heard the Symphony No. 2 in D Major by Brahms. Gerard Schwarz led a rich, detailed performance of the work. He was able to shape and mold the exposition to reveal new angles and insights during its repeat. The horn solo in the coda was beautifully played, and Schwarz conducted the passage with vigor to allow the moment to become a culmination.
The second movement was projected in dark colors, and Schwarz got vibrant sound by focusing on the section cellos at the opening of the movement. But, as so often happens in Brahms, the opening is built from an interaction between two lines: in this case between the cello line and a rising line in the bassoons. The bassoon line, while played well, was lost in the texture, and focus on one, rather than both of these lines caused some connections to sound unplugged as the movement progressed. But Schwarz revealed the ways in which Brahms can seamlessly pivot from drama into tenderness, from gentle humor to tears.
The first two movements of this symphony express a sense of the solitary and internal. The last two movements give themselves over to joy and community. The serenade feel of the third movement was brilliant and lively in this performance, and the metric relationship of its contrasting sections was effective. The finale burst into vivid colors and good cheer. The triumphant close of the symphony was met with thunderous applause. Hopefully this father and son team will become a regular feature as guest conductors here in Hartford. They would certainly be welcome again.
THE HARTFORD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA “Saint-Saens & Brahms” Masterworks concert series continues 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, March 13 and 14; and 3 p.m. Sunday, March 15 at the Belding Theater at The Bushnell, 166 Capitol Ave., Hartford. Information and tickets: 860-987-5900 and hartfordsymphony.org.
