Following a concert devoted to modernist music by Stravinsky and John Corigliano, the CPO returned to more conventional fare in a program of well-known works by Bach, Mendelssohn, Liszt, and Dvorak for its second-to-last program of the current season.
Leading the orchestra on this occasion was Eun Sun Kim, a conductor from South Korea with substantial training in Germany. Kim has risen rapidly to prominence in The United States, with highly regarded recent performances in Cincinnati and Dallas. Principally a conductor of opera at this point in her career, it was good to see and hear her in action in standard orchestral repertoire.
Lithe and graceful in her movements, she is always in full command of the music, her communication with the orchestra clear and precise, and with due attention to the shaping of the music. In general, her tempos, especially the concluding Dvorak Symphony No. 8, were on the fast side. This point alone forced the musicians to extra concentration to make sure they could deliver the notes. However, given the precision and ease in following her, the orchestra was able to respond as asked and played as a unified ensemble to a remarkable degree. Overall, this was an impressively cleanly-played concert.
Kim’s fleet approach to the music served the middle movements of the symphony (and also the opening Hebrides Overture by Mendelssohn) the best, underscoring its rhythmic urgency and forward movement. A special moment came during the delicious third movement of the Dvorak symphony, which with its melodic sweetness and charm held the audience suspended as if in a trance.
On the other side, the breezy approach tended to underplay some of the gravitas the symphony also contains. The opening of the final movement, beautifully played by the cello section, was conceived in a more cheery way than it often is, the underlying nostalgia muted. The brilliant sections of this movement, on the other hand, could hardly have been bettered, with the orchestra playing impressively well, including some terrific virtuoso licks by flutist Gwen Klassen.
The opening Mendelssohn overture likewise was crisply played with an elegant flow and grace, but the darker elements and tonal nuances somewhat muted, again largely the consequence of the rapid tempo. Mendelssohn is frequently played this way, and to no ill effect most of the time: there can be a danger in making too serious music not written this way. For my taste, however, I would have preferred a slightly greater attention to the atmospheric elements in the score.
A significant portion of the concert was devoted to pianist Konstantin Shamray, who performed two concertos, the Liszt A major concerto and the F minor concerto by J.S. Bach. Shamray, a semifinalist in a recent Honens International Piano Competition and a previous soloist with the orchestra, has clearly matured in the intervening years. Always commanding as a musical presence, and with a first-class technique, he is consistently interesting to hear.
The Liszt is a showpiece for the pianist, and this was very much the approach taken here. All the virtuoso passages were delivered with complete assurance, accuracy, and effortless strength. The benefits of his Russian training were evident, the keys fully bedded in the rapid passagework and remarkable clarity in execution. There is, I think, somewhat more poetry in this piece than was heard on this occasion, but this is just a quibble: basically, Shamray came, he played, he conquered.
The Bach concerto the followed had many of the same attributes as a performance as the Liszt. This was not a Baroque-style account of the work. Performed on a 9-foot grand, with a good-sized orchestra, this was old-fashioned romantic Bach. Filled with crescendos, full textures, and a noticeable degree of testosterone, this was a performance in the tradition of Sviatoslav Richter and Emil Gilels from the 1960s or 70s.
While it is more common now to think of Bach’s concertos as harpsichord works, it is certainly possible to still play this music in the grand tradition: the greatness of Bach’s musical thought easily transcends a number of ways in which it might be performed. Much enjoyed by the audience as a soloist, Shamray will, I think, be a draw in any further appearances with the orchestra. The general enjoyment of the audience was fully apparent in the sustained applause for the orchestra, the soloist, and the impressive new conductor.