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Vegas Violinist at the ASO
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Two young women dominated the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s concert on Thursday: Laura Jackson, who conducted, and Sarah Chang, the violin soloist. Jackson recently finished up a year as the ASO’s conducting fellow, so this was a sort of homecoming for her. Women conductors are still a rare breed, and her success is far from assured. She’s lined up some guest slots for next season, and is presumably in the market for a posting.
The concert opened with Prokofiev’s “Classical” Symphony, premiered in 1918 but which mimics the forms and textures of Haydn’s 18th century symphonies. Anyone betting on a generic reading of the score was quickly proved wrong. Via a slight exaggeration of the dynamics and tempos (faster in the fast bits, slower in the slow), a heavier emphasis on the sweep of the strings, and some adjustments in balances (holding down the basses and percussion), Jackson gave the work an energetic feel without losing its delicacy. It worked, and the listener was inclined to forgive occasional lapses in coordination.
Sarah Chang arrived on the stage in a shiny, jade green dress that said a lot about her “show biz” stage personality. Having made an astonishing debut with the New York Philharmonic at age 8, she has grown up on the concert stage, making her the classical music equivalent of Judy Garland.
Here, she played the Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1, the same piece she played for her Julliard audition at age 6. Her tendency to rush into the fast passages can either be exciting or annoying, depending on your point of view. There is a theatricality to her playing, both in terms of her interpretive style and her self-conscious stage gestures, including foot-stamping, shoulder swoops, and wild bowing techniques. You chuckle at the Las Vegas act that’s part of the package.
It’s no longer possible to forgive the orchestra’s coordination problems, including problems with intonation not normally associated with the ASO. Is it possible that the many distractions of the past few weeks, including the Encore Park opening, had prevented adequate rehearsal? Or was Jackson pushing the orchestra for dramatic gestures at the expense of precision? The audience seemed happy with the way it turned out. Of course, the audience here always seems happy, even delirious.
The orchestra returned from intermission like a football team after a rousing half-time talk from the coach. In Dvorak’s Sixth Symphony everyone was together and in tune, displaying the discipline normally associated with the ASO. Hearing it played so elegantly, you have to wonder why the piece is so rarely performed.
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Comments
By Peter Stelling
May 16, 2008 11:57 PM | Link to this
I have never been to Las Vegas, but if the glamor that Sarah Chang brought to the stage of Symphony Hall last night is representative of that place, I might reconsider a trip there. Violinists that would make one think of Vegas usually have flaming bows (I saw this some 40 years ago in a really kitschy dinner show in a Chicago Hotel called the Continental Plaza…one of those “entertain the client dinners” we’d all rather forget…still don’t know how in hell they lit the bows and played without incinerating their violins…it was purely awful. At least there was no scent of burning cat gut as we consumed our overcooked filets and talked of force-injected plastics. Last night’s performance was glamorous and tasteful. The music the real “Vegas” violinists play is far less seriously composed than that of Max Bruch. I would say that Mr. Paulk has probably never been to Vegas, either. Or to a client dinner in Chicago. How fortunate for him. Ms. Chang was beautiful to look at as well as to hear, and I didn’t have to drive all the way to the new “Encore Pavillion” in Alpharetta for a bit of totally acceptable glitz. Brava!