Ben Ealovega
James Ehnes
Guest violinist James Ehnes delivered a passionate and delicate version of Brahms' Violin Concerto.
The second program of the Madison Symphony Orchestra's 2015-16 season, heard Friday evening at Overture Center, was a wonderful mix of novelties each performed with idiomatic eloquence.
The quest for "historically informed performance" of recent years has made symphony orchestras avoid the Haydn symphonies — though Andrew Sewell and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra do wonders with them. Haydn’s Symphony No. 85 was one of the so-called "Paris" Symphonies (Nos. 82-87), composed for the French capital and the confirmation of his status as Europe’s leading composer. Maestro John DeMain uses it to reclaim the rights of "big orchestras" to such literature. True, the big battalions of strings are slightly reduced, and vibrato is restrained. But DeMain makes a cogent case for his choice, bringing a lovely warmth to the clarity and bounce of his interpretation.
Returning after a visit three years ago, the Canadian violinist James Ehnes avoids the “warhorse” choice of Bruch's popular Concerto No. 1 for the more rarely heard Scottish Fantasy by the composer. Each of its four movements adapts an actual Scottish folk song (with some cross references for the first of them), not in plastic-package arrangements but in true symphonic explorations. Enjoyable when heard cold, it is even more fascinating when one can identify the distinct tunes. The solo part, written for the great virtuoso Spanish violinist Pablo de Sarasate, is flamboyant and demanding, but Ehnes brings it off with stylish flair, in a truly memorable performance.
For Friday's concert, Ehnes' encore was a movement from Bach’s Violin Sonata No. 3.
Typically, the "meat" of the program comes after the intermission. The Symphonic Dances by Sergei Rachmaninoff, written in 1940 and his last completed composition, is, quite simply, one of the orchestral masterpieces of the twentieth century. Though the second of its three movements is clearly a probing of the decadent waltz, the bulk of the music is not about dances but about rhythms. There are also some stunning melodies, especially in the first movement. But Rachmaninoff was recurrently obsessed with the plainchant Dies Irae melody as a motto suggesting death. He used it in two earlier works. Here, it is hinted at along the way, then alluded to and finally proclaimed in various mutations.
Madison has heard the work previously this summer, bravely done by the University of Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra. But DeMain leads a stunningly powerful rendition, full of nuances, and the MSO plays sumptuously.
The program is repeated at Overture Hall on Saturday, Oct. 17, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 18, at 2:30 p.m.
