Philharmonic presents
a heroic study in contrastsCONCERT REVIEW
By William Glackin
Sacramento Bee Critic at Large
September 25, 1998
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 "Emperor"
Mahler: Symphony No. 1 "Titan"
Micha Dichter, Piano
Zvonimir Hacko, Conductor
Suggestions of heroism come in all sorts of sounds and styles in classical music. Two of the most popular examples made up the entire final Masterworks program of the Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra in the Community Center Theater Saturday night -- Beethoven's Concerto for piano and orchestra No. 5, and Mahler's Symphony No. 1.
They were a study in contrasts in many ways, and that made for an interesting as well as appealing evening.
Beethoven's concerto, later dubbed the "Emperor" by other people, was composed in a time for heroism, when Napoleon was laying siege to Austria. It is commonly lumped with the Third (Eroica) and Fifth Symphonies; indeed D. Kern. Holoman they "virtually define the period."
The evening's soloist, the veteran and eminent Misha Dichter, brought a crisply put, forceful attack to the way he punctuated the grand statements of the first movement. Conductor Zvonimir Hacko and the orchestra showed their appreciation of the clarity and order in the way Beethoven lays out the themes of the movements before he lets the pianist play with them. The feeling was one of collaboration, not competition, a feeling implicit in the score.
The slow movement, taken in a hush, was full of gentle, eloquent singing in both the orchestra and the piano. The finale, which begins with the pianist trying to find a light-hearted tune, then presenting it to the orchestra, was full of a spirit of fun and flights of brilliancy. Dichter's playing was notable now for its lightness, running so fast it seemed barely there at times. He responded to the strong applause with a happy smile, and insistently directed it toward the orchestra.
`Mahler's hero is a lover remembering early happiness, threatened by evil, ultimately triumphant in a very brassy way. But the opening is oddly murky, in a way that seems to hark back across the 19th century to Beethoven, to the deep-down beginning of his Ninth Symphony. There's a very low note in the cellos and basses; Hacko and the orchestra made it seem to come from out of nowhere. Presently two descending notes make a chord; Mahler adds five more to make a tune. Distant fanfares (played from off stage) suggest half-remembered events. After six minutes of these remembrances, a pretty, lighthearted tune arises in the cellos, is picked up by the woodwinds and built by everybody to a climax.
Then Mahler does the whole thing over, throwing in a cuckoo this time, and we realize that spring has arrived, in full cry.
The scherzo follows, a rustic dance that kicks up its legs and slaps its knees. The trio is the middle shows that it's really quite refined, just kidding. The third movement is strange; the Viennese, when they first heard it, are said not to have known whether to laugh or mourn. It was, inspired by a well-known painting of a funeral procession in which the animals of the forest are carrying the coffin of a hunter. Mahler depicts it with variations on "Frere Jacques" scored in odd ways -- double bass, bass drum, pre-klezmer combinations, a town band. In the middle of it all a lovely tune arises like a serenade.
The cortege is wiped out by a huge crash in the orchestra and a threatening theme. The finale has begun. After sounds of struggle, a sweet, consoling song rises, only to be crushed by the threatening one. Mahler rescues us with a march that promises a triumph, then delays by going all the way back to the opening of the first movement. These reminiscences are infiltrated by phrases of the march, which swells to an unmistakable triumph in the brass. The horns stood to play. Holoman's comment on this coda is perfect: "The way he goes on is probably excessive, but you can't deny the thrill when he gets to the end."
Hacko led the work in a frequently all-out style that seemed well-suited to the music, and the orchestra responded with a performance that justly could be called a victory.