Also this issue:

Sound Judgments
Nostalgia, varnish and acoustic doors: tuning Verizon Hall to the Orchestra -- and expectations.
-Peter Burwasser

Progress Report
Year one in the Orchestra's new home.
-Peter Burwasser

Rick Henderson
-A.D. Amorosi

Kara Lafty
-Interview by Patrick Rapa

The Greg Osby Four
-Nate Chinen

The Go/The Witnesses/Gregg Foreman/The Trauma Queens
-A.D. Amorosi

Zwan
-A.D. Amorosi

Elliott
-Chris Parker

December 12-18, 2002

music

Philadelphia Orchestra

by Peter Burwasser

After only a handful of concerts as the music director-designate, it is already possible to discern a distinct performance style for Christoph Eschenbach. His delightful reading of the Prokofiev Classical Symphony set the tone for this concert, with tightly coiled rhythms and bold orchestral coloration. As he did with another warhorse last season, the Dvorák “New World” symphony, Eschenbach brought a fresh voice to the Prokofiev, taking nothing for granted in terms of pacing and balance. In both works, the conductor teased out inner voices and found thoughtful tempos that kept the music moving along at a natural flow. Most importantly, Eschenbach manages to be innovative without being gimmicky or showy. The composer remains the star of the performance.

This evening also included a local premiere of Peter Lieberson's Red Garuda for piano and orchestra, with the dedicatee, Peter Serkin, as soloist. The work is constructed as an introduction with three variations, as inspired by a Buddhist myth about a bird-like supernatural being. Lieberson was most successful when he was not dealing with his subject matter in an overtly programmatic fashion. At those moments, the score resorts to clichés, with too many effects competing at once, producing jangly, confused sounds. Serkin's earnest pounding only compounded the problem. In moments of repose, a clarity and balance emerged. There is a stark, angular construction in the slower music, with clusters of pianistic filigree neatly tucked into the corners.

But the real problem for Lieberson was to appear on the same program with a masterpiece from the pen of a composer he seems to aspire to. As Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring approaches its 100th birthday, it shows no diminution in power, wild beauty or sheer audacity. It is a towering icon of 20th-century music just as surely as Beethoven's Fifth served that purpose for the 19th century.

Maestro Eschenbach, conducting from memory, avoided the sensationalist approach that can be so exciting in this music, as Riccardo Muti demonstrated in his tenure here. This was, instead, a supremely musical performance, albeit with no lack of fireworks. However, it was not the explosions of noise that impressed the memory, but rather the exotic melodies, lush textures and primal rhythmic patterns. The musicians seemed inspired by this approach, rendering the music with an organic dynamism that was astonishing, even for their world-class standards. The future of this ensemble sounds to be in good hands.

Philadelphia Orchestra, Dec. 5, Verizon Hall