It was slightly less than a year ago that conductor Justin Brown made his debut in Calgary in a program that I found impressive. And thus it was with anticipation that I attended the CPO’s Showcase Series concert at the Jack Singer Concert Hall on Friday with Brown as the conductor, and with the highly regarded Konstantin Shamray as the solo pianist. It was nice not to be disappointed.
On this occasion it was an all-Russian program devoted to two principal works: the Piano Concerto No. 2 by Prokofiev, and the Symphony No. 4 by Tchaikovsky. A short orchestral piece called Story of an Impossible Love by the Russian-born Elena Langer fleshed out the attractively chosen program.
Shamray has played in Calgary before with the Calgary Youth Orchestra, but this was his first appearance with the CPO — and an impressive appearance it was. A pianist in the barn-storming Russian tradition, Shamray is also a pianist of sensitivity and refinement. And there is hardly a better piece to show off a pianist’s chops than the Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2.
From the lyrical opening to the stupendously difficult solos in the middle of the concerto, Shamray had the full measure of this piece, his technique completely equal to the challenges of strength, agility, and projection, and also with a delicate poetry in the softer passages. He has a commanding, easy stage presence that inspires confidence. The listener only needs to settle back and enjoy: one is clearly in the presence of an artist who can deliver the goods.
The concerto also contains a complex orchestral part, and there are many challenges of ensemble. But Brown was able to guide the combined forces to a convincing, well-blended account of the orchestral element to produce a powerfully-conceived performance of this attractive, crowd-pleasing work.
However, from an audience point of view nothing beats the Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 in its direct appeal. This is the work that the orchestra took on it European tour some years ago, and a piece fully in the repertoire of the players. The benefit of this was evident in one of the cleanest performances of the symphony I have heard live. All sections of the orchestra brought their A game to this performance, but none more than the brass, whose tight, focused sound and sheer brilliance were impressive.
Although it is not exactly a solo part, the trumpet is crucial here, and first trumpet Adam Zinatelli was like a steel girder through the texture — the source the symphony’s sonic backbone. The horns too were clean and strong in their famous opening and again in the final pages of the work.
While this was certainly a graphic account of the symphony, it was, overall, more marked by a certain lithe, sprung quality rather than the weighted sound one sometimes hears in Tchaikovsky symphonies. This was, I think, principally the concept of Brown, who favoured faster-than-usual tempos, especially in the second and third movements. With such a conception, the music came across as less sentimental than it sometimes does, the lyricism of the music clearly present, but without emotional self-indulgence.
If one can deliver the notes accurately, and at speed, the finale almost plays itself, and it was here that the virtuosity of the orchestra was on full display, from the brilliance of the runs in the strings, to the plangent sounds of the woodwinds, to the forceful brass. In short, it was terrific.
As mentioned, the program opened with Langer’s impressionist-sounding Story of an Impossible Love, a more-than-usually attractive work, with fine solos (and well played) for the violin and oboe. Langer clearly has an individual musical voice and the ability to write imaginatively for orchestra. I hope we will be able to hear more of her music in the future.