PSO offers parting gift before European tour
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra next week departs on its 25th European tour, and music director Manfred Honeck will lead the ensemble in some of the world’s finest halls. As a parting gift, the PSO is spending the weekend in Heinz Hall, Downtown, performing some of the same music that it will in Europe, a collection of works by Shostakovich, Mozart, Rachmaninoff, Bruckner and more.
Sports teams are often considered to be national ambassadors, champions of the city representing the best and boldest a population has to offer. If that’s the case, the orchestra can be considered our international ambassador, our cultural envoy to listeners and leaders across the pond. Friday’s performance is indicative of an exceptional tour, as guest concertmaster Zenas Hsu and piano soloist Igor Levit joined the ensemble to deliver a charged, thrilling program, exceptional even for this fine institution.
The evening opened with “Ressurexit” by Mason Bates, a 10-minute hyper-compressed musical retelling of the Christian Resurrection story, premiered in 2018 by the PSO. The music begins with suggestive flutters in the winds underneath a transparent sheen of upper strings. Deep, earthy English horn and oboe melodies built to a steady increase in speed and energy before the whole orchestra peaked in a triumphant burst.
Mr. Levit took to the stage for Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 22 in E-flat major, a cheerful romp of a piece with plenty of opportunity for cheek and sensitivity. The first movement cadenza sounded a touch
far afield from the themes to my ears, impressive as it was, while the second movement was sublimely polished.
But the third movement — here was the meat of the piece. It begins with a simple piano tune that returns often (as is typical for a rondo), and Mr. Levit’s embellishments when the tune returned were utterly charming. The movement seemed to hover just on the edge of too fast, with the soloist galloping ahead with gusto and grace, Mr. Honeck and the orchestra gently pulling back a touch in the more lyrical phrases. Such was Mr. Levit’s enthusiasm that he entered a bar early at one moment, but in context this made the performance more visceral. Sometimes, technical perfection isn’t what’s best for a concert.
Post intermission, Mr. Honeck and the musicians launched into a taut, thorny performance of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 in D minor, a work that encompasses a vast emotional gamut and remains fraught with historical subtext. (While Shostakovich was awarded the Stalin Prize not long after premiering this symphony, his memoirs reveal his disenchantment with the Soviet situation.)
In 2018, the PSO won a Grammy Award for best orchestra performance for a recording featuring this work, and Friday’s performance was ample evidence why the album has resonated with the world.
After a desolate opening, bursts of rage entwine with glimmers of hope; the orchestra is at times a behemoth and at times an elephant tiptoeing on eggshells. The third movement is the emotional crux of the work, performed Friday with the most affecting wretchedness before that great sarcastic beast of a finale, itself enhanced by moments of warmth and reverence before a brilliant but chilling finish.
The musicians depart Tuesday morning for Europe and will perform in several German cities as well as Paris, Belgium and other key cities. Bon voyage to the PSO.
The orchestra performs Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at Heinz Hall, Downtown. Tickets are $20-$97 at 412392-4900 or pittsburghsymphony.org.