New York Philharmonic (Jan 12, 2018)

Last Friday, I visited the Lincoln Center once more for the New York Philharmonic.

Orchestra rear

1. Tchaikovsky – Violin Concerto

This is actually my favorite piece of my favorite composer. I have listened to many different versions of this concerto, but this one was unique and outstanding. The soloist’s take was a tender and soft interpretation, even mellow. This was quite different from my preconception of a manly Russian romanticism. I had thought that, partly because of the grandiose finale, the theme of this concerto is to show grandeur and majesty. However, the soloist proved otherwise. The smooth and not so rugged execution was vivace at the same time. It was a masterful performance.

2. Esa-Pekka Salonen – Helix

This was a 2005 composition of Esa-Pekka Salonen, the composer-in-residence at the New York Philharmonic. The governing concept of the music was helix. Starting from a slower tempo, the music gets faster while note values take longer. Thus the concept of helix, which consists of concentric circles with decreasing diameter. The composer completes the helix by brining the music to an abrupt end, the vertex of the helix. It was an interesting piece.

 

The Great Wave, Hokusai

3. Debussy – La Mer

In three movements, Debussy portrays the various scenes of the sea. He must have a good understanding about the imagery, since he has dreamed of being a seaman. The composer was also motivated by the Japanese print “The Great Wave” by Hokusai. Therefore, the music contains a Japanese taste; calm yet sometimes bizarre. That is, after all, the appearance of the sea as well. It appears calm, but no one knows when it will turn upside down.

Debussy has produced a musical imagery of the mild tidal waves, the bubbling sea waves, and the raging stormy waves. And as a person gazing at the ocean (or listening to La Mer), I am sometimes at peace and at other times with a heightened spirit, as I watch (or listen to) different forms of waves. It is a symphonic depiction of nature that is not repetitive, presenting new scenes and phrases throughout the piece, just as every natural scene is different. Yet it is always the same body of water and the mass of wind that produce such diverse scenery.