Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra delivers powerhouse program
Performance offers depth, angst, unexpected
Music, whether great symphonic pieces or protest songs, is an expression of the time in which it is created.
The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and guest conductor Carlos Kalmar gave powerful, focused performances of two works from very unsettled times on Saturday evening, Benjamin Britten’s Violin Concerto (1939) and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10 (1953).
Violinist Elina Vähälä joined the orchestra for a riveting performance of the Britten. Playing with a clean, even sound, she created vivid contrasts, from the sighing opening lines of the piece, to bold, assertive, sometimes aggressive articulations and dynamics, to introspective whispers of high harmonics.
This was far more than a tour of the violin’s sonic possibilities. Vähälä gave a deeply stirring, musically profound rendition, supported and contrasted beautifully by Kalmar and the MSO.
The Shostakovich was a wild ride, as it should be. Kalmar led the orchestra through a performance that framed the character of each movement, from a stormy, brooding, occasionally raging first movement to a wryly playful second movement.
Sometimes, unexpected things happen in performance. Concertmaster Frank Almond had to leave the stage for a few minutes after the second movement of the Shostakovich to deal with a contact lens issue. He, Kalmar, the orchestra, and the audience all handled the delay with good grace and good humor.
Losing not an ounce of musical momentum to the delay, Kalmar and the orchestra continued with a gripping, visceral performance of the symphony’s third movement. They closed with a mercurial take on the fourth movement that was full of stunning orchestral colors, lovely solos lines from various players and thrilling turn-on-adime shifts in texture and dynamics, closing the piece with a thrilling musical frenzy.
Kalmar broke with concert protocol at the beginning of the concert, taking the stage before the orchestra had tuned to talk about the emotional depth and angst of the two pieces. He joked that audience members should “enjoy” the weighty program, which, gauging by the long, cheering, standing ovation at the end of the concert, they did.