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ASO and Pianist Gutierrez Excel in Chopin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
CONCERT REVIEW Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Friday in Symphony Hall. Program repeats Saturday at 8 p.m. www.atlantasymphony.org, 404-733-5000.
This week, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s bill holds two hefty and popular classics, by Chopin and Tchaikovsky. Consumed together, they felt like easy-to-prepare comfort food for an orchestra on a hectic schedule, and for the listener they were easy on the psyche. As I attended the Atlanta Opera Thursday, I caught the ASO’s second performance of the program, Friday night. Symphony Hall was nearly packed, always a good sign. Under conductor Robert Spano, the ASO had the music fully cooked — which isn’t always the case for the opening night (Thursday) concerts.
Cuban-born, New York-educated pianist Horatio Gutierrez was soloist in Chopin’s E minor Piano Concerto, written when the composer-pianist was 20, as a showpiece for his highly original and chronically understated talents.
Far from a dreamy, echt-Romantic pianist, Gutierrez has a bravura touch; there’s always a small spark when his fingers touch the keys. Yet he was achingly tender in the nocturne-like slow movement, and then he opened up for the finale — at once majestic, intimate and even a bit sultry in his rhythmic elasticity, especially in counterpoint with Spano’s rock-solid command of tempo. Extraordinary playing on all counts.
If I’m not mistaken, Spano’s first and only performance with the ASO of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, the pathos-laden “Pathetique,” came a few days after the Sept. 11 attacks — as a last-minute, cathartic substitution on his inaugural “gala” program.
His conception of the symphony has broadened over the past five years. Friday, you could almost hear Spano thinking his way through the score: horizontally, in terms of melody, line and the flow of time; and vertically, in aligned chords, stacked harmonies and layers of orchestration.
Treating the score as a puzzle to be solved can feel like a rather intellectual approach, especially in music that wears a big Russian heart on its sleeve. But conductor and orchestra brought all together for the waltzing second movement and in the great ratcheting-up of the third movement. But then, in the lamenting conclusion, the orchestra seemed to lose its concentration and, with it, its technical polish.
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