NHK Symphony Orchestra
Charles Dutoit (conductor)
Yefim Bronfman (piano)
Boris Pergamenshikov, Han-Na Chang, Truls Mørk (cellos)
Friday 22 & Saturday 23 June 2001
NHK Hall, Tokyo
Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 1
Penderecki: Concerto Grosso per 3 violoncelli ed orchestra (world premiere)
Beethoven: Symphony No. 5
Founded in Tokyo in 1926, the NHK Symphony Orchestra (managed by NHK, the Japan Broadcasting Society) is arguably the best orchestra in Japan. It is certainly the busiest: it gave 137 performances in this past season and all subscription concerts are broadcast on radio and television.
The NHK Symphony used to prefer the German Romantics, especially under the baton of Wolfgang Sawallisch, honorary conductor from 1967-1994 (now honorary laureate). Since Charles Dutoit's appointment as principal conductor in 1996 and as music director in 1998, their central repertoire has changed; now they do much more 20th-century music, particularly French and Russian. For instance, the orchestra's other two programs in June included Britten, Poulenc, Honegger, Takemitsu, Lowell Liebermann and Tchaikovsky. They have also initiated a series of commissions from well-known composers such as Liebermann, Sofia Gubaidulina, Chen Yi and Tan Dun. For the final concert of the season, the NHK Symphony presented a world premiere (postponed from its scheduled debut in December 2000): Krzysztof Penderecki's sumptuous new Concerto Grosso for Three Cellos and Orchestra.
Penderecki, 67, has already written two concertos for cello, in 1967/72 and in 1982, which represent his avant-garde and neo-Romantic styles respectively. This new work is typical of his recent idiom: eclectic, dramatic, often overtly tonal and appealing to the public. The Concerto Grosso's writing is fairly conventional, very much like Bartók and Shostakovich, with a flavor of late Mahler and with few tone clusters (Penderecki's trademark in the 1960s). Beginning with an Andante sostenuto, the basic atmosphere is somber and meditative; a chromatic head motive dominates the piece, and a chorale-like slow episode recurs to punctuate the 33-minute movement; in the central section, a march-like allegro tempo is abundant, providing some ready-made climaxes. As its Baroque-ish title suggests, the Concerto Grosso's three cellos (the concertino) alternate with the orchestra (the ripieno) and with sporadic solo passages for flute and piccolo, oboe, bassoon, violin, double bass, marimba, etc. The orchestral forces are not overly large - quite like those of Beethoven's 5th (plus harp and extra percussion).
The treatment of the three cellos is varied: the soloists each play exposed virtuoso cadenzas in turn, then play in duo or trio, with imitative motion, suave harmony and powerful unisons that emulate the orchestra (which performed securely throughout). The soloists from Russia, Korea and Norway were all impressive and played in a similar style, with the same level of dedication and same degree of vibrato. But why three cellos? ("Not necessarily three" said Penderecki, just arrived from Helsinki on the morning of the premiere. "It might be one or four, but for me three cellos sound perfect.") The succession of shamelessly expressive solos is gorgeous but somewhat excessive; the musical ideas are colorful but trite and discursive. As a concerto in the early 21st century, it was old-fashioned - but quite accessible for a conservative audience. At both performances, after the last chord, marked morendo, faded into silence, the work and musicians were hailed by seven minutes of applause.
Powerful and energetic, Yefim Bronfman is an ideal soloist for Prokofiev. The rhapsodic Piano Concerto No. 1 (the Concerto No. 2 had been originally planned) by the 21-year-old composer has some demanding passages - particularly the machine-gun chords spanning the piano's whole range at the finale, which was executed in a solid, steely manner. Bronfman's dashing if not absolutely precise performance - sometimes the orchestra could not follow the propulsive soloist - was deserving of the warm applause.
The choice of Beethoven's 5th Symphony seemed strange for this month. Dutoit is not keen on imitating period instruments but his tempos were brisk and the performance was a bit rough but unusually vigorous, which was perhaps appropriate for concluding the season.
Charles Dutoit and the NHK Symphony, with Martha Argerich (piano) and Mayumi Miyata (sho), will visit London to perform a BBC Promenade Concert on 27 August.
© andante Corp. July 2001. All rights reserved.
