China Various: Wu Man (pipa), The Philadelphia Orchestra / Marin Alsop (conductor). National Center for the Performing Arts, Beijing, 31.10-1.11.2024. (RP)
31.10.2024
Rossini – Overture to The Barber of Seville
Tchaikovsky – Romeo and Juliet ‘Overture-Fantasy’
Dvořák – Symphony No.9 in E minor, Op.95, ‘From the New World’
1.11.2024
Zhao Jiping – Pipa Concerto No.2
Mahler – Symphony No.1 in D major, ‘Titan’
The Philadelphia Orchestra made history in 1973 as the first American orchestra to go to China. This initial effort of musical diplomacy was the start of an unprecedented relationship between the orchestra and the then-nascent superpower. Since that first visit, the Philadelphia Orchestra has toured China thirteen times, more than any other American orchestra.
In November 2023, fourteen members of the orchestra traveled to China for a residency to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the 1973 tour. Late last month, the full orchestra returned to China for the first time since 2019 with concerts and residencies in Beijing, Tianjin, Chengdu and Haikou that run through 10 November.
Marin Alsop, the orchestra’s newly appointed Principal Guest Conductor, is leading the tour. She has been affiliated with the orchestra for more than twenty years, conducting it in concerts in Philadelphia and other major American concert venues. Her rapport with the orchestra was readily evident, which undoubtedly was a factor in the orchestra’s exceptional playing in Beijing in the first two performances of the tour.
The first concert began with Rossini’s Overture to The Barber of Seville. Alsop led a spirited account, notable for its clarity and energy, coupled with a delightful mix of lyrical beauty, drama and emotion. Collectively, these would be the hallmarks of her approach to each work performed. It was also the first opportunity to delight in the superb playing of the orchestra’s woodwind section, especially that of Principal Clarinetist Ricardo Morales and Associate Principal Oboist Peter Smith.
The Rossini highlighted the congenial acoustics of the National Center for the Performing Arts which permitted the Philadelphia Orchestra to be heard to full advantage. Judicious placement of the players certainly enhanced the aural experience. Most importantly, the NCPA’s acoustics permitted the audience to enjoy the orchestra’s fabled strings to the fullest.
Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet ‘Overture-Fantasy’ condenses Shakespeare’s play into twenty minutes of music that capture the romance and tragedy of the young lovers. Alsop led a performance that was as memorable for its lyricism as its drama. The string pizzicatos and woodwind playing in the opening section were particularly beautiful. Tchaikovsky’s melodies were played with a heartbreakingly tenderness, while the violent struggle of the feuding Capulets and Montagues was electrifying.
Dvořák’s ‘New World’ Symphony concluded the first concert. Conducting from memory, Alsop instilled this universally beloved work with energy, vibrancy and emotion. In the first movement, the strings and woodwinds topped its familiar melodies with majestic climaxes, and the brass were equally impressive. Elizabeth Masoudnia on cor anglais played the touching melody of the second movement with eloquence and simplicity, and the string playing that followed was silken and shimmering. Alsop shaped the entire movement with sensitivity, tapering an ending that resonated with a prayerful reverence.
The third movement careened from the lightness and lilt in the woodwind’s playing of the first theme to an urgency that climaxed in a tremendous fury of sound from the full orchestra. The playing of Principal Oboist Philippe Tondre was particularly impressive. In the finale, the trumpets were thrilling, as was the equally fine effort of Morales on the clarinet; the brass instilled a dark drama and energy in the movement’s climax. For an encore, the audience was treated to the ebullience of Brahms’s ‘Hungarian Dance’ No.5.
The second concert opened with Zhao Jiping’s Pipa Concerto No.2 with Wu Man as soloist. Zhao Jiping has garnered international acclaim for his film scores, including those for Raise the Red Lantern and Farewell My Concubine. He composed the concerto at the request of Wu Man, who is universally acclaimed as the world’s greatest pipa player. In the concerto, Zhao Jiping combines the sounds of Wu Man’s hometown of Hangzhou in China’s Zhejiang province with sweeping melodies to provide a setting for the exquisite and enticing sounds of the pipa. This tonal kaleidoscope included strumming, plucking and arabesques of sound as complex as they were dazzling. The delights were repeated with equal grace and virtuosity in Wu Man’s solo encore, ‘Three & Six’, a folk tune from her hometown of Hangzhou.
Alsop and the orchestra returned to the stage for a magnificent performance of Mahler’s Symphony No.1. Again conducting from memory, Alsop summoned an aura of mystery in the opening measures, which was heightened by the playing of the muted offstage trumpets. Joy later filled the hall as the cellos introduced ‘Ging heut’ morgen über’s Feld’, the second song from Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen. As that buoyant melody filled the hall, there were smiles on the faces of many of the players, whose lips were not otherwise occupied.
In the second movement, Alsop drew earthiness from the orchestra in the Ländler and gracefulness in the contrasting waltz. The Funeral March in the following section was introduced by the fine playing of Principal Bass Joseph Conyers. This somber mood was shattered by the blinding energy of the Klezmer music which the violins, basses and clarinets turned into a real foot stomper. The soothing strains of ‘Die zwei blauen Augen von meinem Schatz’, also from Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, were soft and gentle, with Tondre’s playing of the melody on the oboe gliding above the shimmering and transparent orchestral sound.
Without pause, the fourth movement began with a terrific crash of the cymbal and the fury of brass and percussion. The ensuing trumpet playing was truly heroic. Alsop channeled the torrents of sound into a titanic conflict of violent emotions, alleviated by the bittersweet tenderness generated by the playing of the violins. Principal Horn Jennifer Montone led the horns in producing tones that were mellow and warm.
The performance ended in triumph with brass blazing and the tinkle of the triangle reverberating through the hall. This most respectful of audiences let decorum slip and immediately rose to its feet. Before, there had only been rapt silence.
Rick Perdian
Featured Image: Pipa player Wu Man with Marin Alsop and The Philadelphia Orchestra © Todd Rosenberg