Douglas Boyd was the guest conductor for the evening. A strapping young chap from Glasgow, he walked on stage with an air of 'here we go again,' but in an upbeat, lively sort of way. He spoke a few words before the first piece, making a joke about how young Mozart was when he composed the symphony, and then the concert began.
Mozart's 1st symphony is quite a splendid little work. I have been familiar with it for a while, and the orchestra delivered it very nicely under the direction of Maestro Boyd. The orchestra was reduced in size (a bunch of the musicians were performing La Bohème at the opera house, but it could have also been for historical accuracy), and the sound Boyd drew forth was crisp and clean. The acoustics were very good where we sat on the second tier, a few boxes from the front. The first movement sparkled with the fanfare motive, and grew darkly somber and haunting during the contrasting sequences of suspension, essentially exercises in 4th species counterpoint.
The second movement was performed slightly quicker than I've heard it before, but it worked well. The dark opening chord only hung in the air a few seconds before the ascending scale in the cellos and basses carried it into the next harmony. An extremely short but lovely little movement, heavy in the use of minor keys, it has always been my favorite of the three. The last movement then briskly carried the symphony to a close, and they began to reset the stage for the flute concerto.
Demarre McGill was hired as principal flute with the symphony in 2011, and this was his first time performing as soloist with them. His brother Anthony McGill is the principal clarinetist with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and so they exist among that very small cohort of African Americans who hold prominent positions in classical music. Even more impressive is that they grew up on the south side of Chicago. However, Demarre and Anthony were born in wedlock, and they grew up with a mother and a father who, very much like my own parents, mortgaged their home several times to pay for music lessons.
McGill looked dashing as he strode onto the stage. He wore a long black tie, some sort of navy-blue jacket and grey slacks. What always strikes me about him when he's sitting in the orchestra is how full of life he looks, how excited and happy at every moment. This was no exception of course, and childlike joy emanated from him as Boyd led the orchestra through the beginning of the concerto. McGill smiled and swayed to the music while waiting for his entrance. Then he put his golden flute to his lips, and the sound that set forth into the hall seemed poised to lift all of Benaroya Hall into the heavens. It was everything one could have hoped for; a seamless stream of pure beauty dancing above the orchestra, effortlessly gliding through the phrases like a floating roller-coaster. It seemed as though he were about to sprout wings and gently drift upwards into the hall, and if one looked only at his face they'd be hard pressed not to think that he was already off the ground.
He moved with the music so authentically as he spun thread after thread of golden sound into the hall. His movements seemed so natural, it was as if the music was moving him of its own accord and he was just surrendering completely to it.
McGill and Baltacigil (the new principal cellist) are two new hires out of several under the Ludovic Morlot management. I don't know off the top of my head exactly who else is new, but I believe there are other new principles. Judging from McGill and Baltacigil though, it seems some amazing work was done for the orchestra with the new hiring.
He got a standing ovation for his performance, and then intermission commenced.
After intermission, Boyd led the orchestra in Mozart's March in D (K. 249) and his Serenade No. 7 in D major (the Haffner, K. 250). Principal violinist Emma McGrath was featured as soloist through a few movements of the serenade, and her playing was quite good. She had a very clean sound and good intonation. Though there was one strange moment where, at a fermata it seemed, she employed a glissando to reach a high note, where she then used an unusual amount of vibrato given the context in this concert. Everything was played more or less in period style, with the smaller orchestra and everything. It seemed with that slide and the vibrato on the high note that McGrath took us on a brief journey to the romantic period.
Anyways, the performance of the serenade was splendid, and I was seldom bored. However, there's no pretending that this music was written with the purpose of being listened to attentively in a concert hall. It was composed as background music for wedding festivities, and I doubt anyone will ever declare it one of their favorite works of Mozart. It is lovely to listen to, but it is not a revelation of any sort.
After last night I realized I don't like the second tier very much at all. It's too high, and the railings obscure some of the musicians from view. I'm going to be sticking to the Founders Tier from now on.
The next concert we currently have tickets for is The Four Seasons on Friday, March 8th, but my tickets are currently second tier tickets, so if I don't end up being able to exchange them we may not be going to that one. We're going to La Bohème at the opera the following night anyway, so two nights in a row might be a bit much. After that is Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 at the symphony on March 16th. I'm very excited for that concert!
Until next time!
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