The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra last performed Anton Bruckner’s seventh symphony in a classical subscription concert nearly 15 years ago. Is that because of the sheer force it demands, the orchestra enlarged by four Wagner tubas, among other instruments? Maybe it’s that the challenging symphony is weighted down by impossible expectations; it was the only piece that brought Bruckner instant success in his lifetime and is on lists of the top symphonies of all time.
Music director Nathalie Stutzmann brought Bruckner’s seventh symphony back to Atlanta Thursday as the grand finale to a two-week festival commemorating the Austrian composer’s 200th birthday. To kick off the festival last week, Stutzmann led the ASO Chorus in Bruckner’s “Te Deum,” added as a coda to the composer’s ninth symphony. Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 22, performed by guest artist Sunwook Kim in his ASO debut, opened Thursday’s program.
Stutzmann will bring both programs to the London Symphony Orchestra on Feb. 8 and 11.
In a night devoted to Bruckner, Kim pulled all the focus to his joyful performance of Mozart, full of bubbling, blistering runs of notes contrasted with moments of tenderness. Kim had a light touch on the piano, even during thundering chordal passages; he was able to transform the most straightforward sections of music into something truly special. He had fun doing it too – in the third movement, he lipsynced as he played the staccato singsong theme, later on leaning in toward concertmaster David Coucheron, catching his eye (with a smile, perhaps?) during a mini-string duet.
Kim made the instrument sound like nothing I’ve ever heard.
Bruckner’s seventh is a tuneful symphony, full of hummable songs. In the opening bars, a strident theme in the cello rose above silken string tremolo before taking flight through the rest of the orchestra; in the final movement, a jaunty theme in the strings passed to the woodwinds who added their own sprightly spin on the tune. Stutzmann and the ASO beautifully highlighted these passages, but it wasn’t just the melodies. In the first movement, the orchestra played with restraint in places where a lesser conductor might emphasize the score’s bombast.
But on the whole, exquisite music-making eluded Stutzmann’s grasp, and the finale especially came across as tangled and confused. Bruckner’s world-building music still felt like a work in progress.
Stutzmann seems to have been tinkering with the orchestral seating to create a more balanced sound in Symphony Hall. For the Mozart concerto, the basses moved to Stutzmann’s left, across the stage from their usual perch, behind the cello section, now nestled between the first violins and the viola section. For Bruckner, the basses took to choir risers that remained from last week’s performances, standing above the ensemble in the back. The move let the low string excerpts ring out instead of getting lost in ensemble playing.
Though the concert marked Kim’s ASO debut, Stutzmann and the pianist previously performed together at Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra in Norway. This familiarity was apparent and no doubt helped create a masterful rendition of the Mozart. Kim, a working conductor himself, took over as the music director of South Korea’s Gyeonggi Philharmonic Orchestra in January, and it was a pleasure to see this piano superstar before conducting takes up more and more of his time. Over the past decade, the ASO has welcomed masterful guest pianists; Kim’s performance Thursday puts him near the top of that list.
CONCERT REVIEW
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Additional performance 8 p.m. January 27. $35-$111. Symphony Hall, 1280 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta. 404-733-5000, atlantasymphony.org.
