I'm probably not qualified to write a review of these performances but I'm going to give it a shot anyway.
Saturday night my husband, Derrick, and I went to see the The Pittsburgh Symphony. The title of the concert was "Bartok and Shostakovich (In the Face of War)." Andrew Druckenbrod of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette ("PSO Tests Bartok" B-7 4-3-2005) seemed unhappy with the pairing of Bartok and Shostakovich in one concert. When I saw that Bartok's Viola Concerto and Shostakovich's 7th Symphony (Leningrad) were on the schedule in a single concert I was happy. I'm used to modern pieces being paired with "classical favorites" that I don't really need to hear again. You know...Shostakovich's 10th Symphony followed by something boring by Mozart or Brahms.
I really enjoyed Randolph Kelly's performance of the Bartok Viola Concerto (*). The orchestration of the piece was left undone when Bartok died. His student Tibor Serly finished the piece. This is a never-ending source of controversy with the piece. So maybe it's not exactly how Bartok would have done it, but I'm glad he finished it. It was fun to listen to and fun to watch. Mr.Kelly was obviously enjoying playing the piece. I would say his performance was contemplative and engaging. I certainly didn't want it to be over.
The performance of Shostakovich's 7th Symphony was also fantastic. The symphony was inspired by the siege of Leningrad during World War II. I found the symphony to be moving. One thing I never thought would happen though is that several times during the performance I thought it was too loud. I really wished I had earplugs. I guess I really am getting too old for rock-n-roll.
(*) Contrary to popular belief Concerto for Viola and Orchestra by Bela Bartok is not the world's longest viola joke. That distinction belongs to Hector Berlioz's Harold in Italy.
Posted by alycia at April 4, 2005 01:44 AM