I had bought Orchestra F seats for the concert, intending to use my seating upgrade coupon to get into the Founders Tier on the day of the concert. We ended up sitting in the third box on the right side, in moveable chairs. This is the first time I've observed a concert from the movable chairs. They're actually quite comfortable.
I was a little bit tired during the first half of the concert, so I'm not sure how much of my experience was affected by that, and how much was due to the playing of the orchestra, but I felt that the orchestra wasn't quite up to the task of the Fauré and the Mozart. The Fauré was beautiful, but particularly in the last movement (the death of Mélisande) it didn't come across to me as gut-wrenching and beautiful as I feel it should have. It seemed like a good performance, nothing more.
However, there was an entertaining moment when Efe Baltacigil's cello slipped. The peg slipped forward on the stage, and he had to catch his cello quickly before it slid further. He didn't really miss any notes because it was a pizzicato section, so he was able to keep plucking away until a rest, and then he re-adjusted his cello and firmly dug the peg into the stage.
After the Fauré, Cédric Tiberghien came out to perform the Mozart concerto. He came waltzing out with his young face held high, and his head tilted quite considerably to the left for some reason. It was actually so extreme that I thought he may have accidentally injured his neck backstage before coming on.
Anyways, they began the concerto, and I felt the same way about the orchestra as I did during the Fauré. They just didn't seem that into it. It felt like Mozart's music was there on the stage, but they weren't delivering it to us in the audience. Tiberghien's playing was lovely, very expressive and musical in a subtle way, but it did not resonate on a deep level. He seemed to be in the same place the orchestra was about the music. But remember, I was quite tired by this point, so perhaps it was me. During intermission we went to the Friends Lounge, and I had half a cup of black tea with the hopes that the caffeine would make me more alert during the second half.
Either the caffeine worked, or the orchestra was in much better spirits after intermission, because their playing seemed more crisp, vivid and engaging, even in the Szymanowski, which is a questionable piece of music. Tiberghien came out again after intermission to play it, again angled as though one of the violinists had a rope tied around his head and was trying to drag him off to the side. I don't know why his head was completely sideways while he walked on stage. It was weird. It was even a little sideways while he bowed too, but not while he played.
Regardless, compared to the first half, I was more taken in by the sound of the orchestra and Tiberghien's playing, which all seemed to have a greater clarity, unity and projection to them compared to the pieces in the first half of the program.
Something I should mention before I continue is that Walter Gray had his hair pulled back and tied yesterday evening, contrasting the previous week where his head looked like the Tree of Tule. I wonder if he read my blog. *Insert Twilight Zone theme*
After the Szymanowski, Morlot came out one last time to conduct his own compilation of the Suites from Carmen. The applause was still fading away when he viciously gestured to the orchestra to begin the prelude, and the string tremolos cut like razor blades into the air, giving the distinct impression that this was a completely different orchestra than what we had just heard for the other works. The playing was extremely powerful and captivating, and it now seemed even weirder that I barely had a clear memory of the Fauré or Mozart. They just seemed to fade away, average performances that blend and disappear into the backdrop of great performances that the works have enjoyed over the centuries. But the Bizet was different, even more so than the Szymanowski. It sounded like the orchestra was fully awake and excited for the first time. Perhaps this is all attributable to my tiredness in the first half, or perhaps the orchestra was just not that enthused by Fauré or Mozart that evening.
In any case, the various movements of the Carmen suites rang out into Benaroya hall with enthused exuberance, and the last crashing chord of the last movement triggered enthusiastic applause and a partial standing ovation.
I should note that interestingly, hardly anybody stood up for Tiberghien after the Mozart. More people stood up for the Szymanowski, and then even more for the Bizet. So perhaps my observations are valid, independent of the fact that I wasn't as alert as I could have been during the first half.
The next concert I have tickets for is on March 2nd. Mozart's Flute Concerto No. 1 plus other works by Mozart!
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