United States Dvořák, Mahler: Gil Shaham (violin), Czech Philharmonic / Semyon Bychkov (conductor). Carnegie Hall, New York, 4.12.2024. (RP)
Dvořák – Violin Concerto in A minor, Op.53
Mahler – Symphony No.5
The Czech Philharmonic and Semyon Bychkov returned to Carnegie Hall for the first time since 2018 for three concerts. They mark the culmination of the orchestra’s year-young observance of the 2024 Year of Czech Music, a decennial celebration highlighting legendary Czech composers. The tradition began one hundred years ago in 1924 with the centenary commemoration of Bedřich Smetana’s birth. Since then, the Year of Czech Music has been held nearly every year that ends with the number four.
This was the second of the three New York concerts, and it featured Gil Shaham performing Dvořák’s Violin Concerto in A minor and Mahler’s Symphony No.5. The prior evening, Yo-Yo Ma was the soloist in Dvořák’s Cello Concert, followed by selections from Smetana’s Má vlast. For the final concert, Daniil Trifonov played Dvořák’s Piano Concerto, with the orchestra joined by the Prague Philharmonic Choir in Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass.
When Dvořák began composing his Violin Concerto in 1879, he had gained financial independence but had suffered profound human losses. Five years earlier, he received a stipend from the Austrian government that eased his monetary problems. Johannes Brahms and the influential critic Eduard Hanslick were influential in securing the award for him, and both would champion his music and promote it to the world. In the intervening years, however, Dvořák and his wife had lost their three children over a two-year period.
Dvořák’s Violin Concerto does not resonate with sorrow, and it is one of his most lyrical and charming compositions. Czech folk traditions inspired its melodies, rhythms and orchestral colors. Shaham’s pristine, impassioned playing of Dvořák’s beautiful melodies made this performance truly memorable.
In the Allegro ma non troppo, Shaham’s singing tone and ability to create a sense of dream-like intimacy came through, and Bychkov drew equally refined and transparent work from the orchestra. The solo flute that emerged repeatedly from the orchestra was playful and brilliant. In the Adagio, Shaham’s simple eloquence was entrancing, and the warmth of the horn added luster to the orchestral sound.
Melody combined with rhythm to evoke rapture in the Finale. Shaham’s silvery sound was light and energetic as he skipped through Dvořák’s syncopations and virtuosic flights of fancy, and the violin section seemed to replicate his sound in terms of transparency and sheen. After the timpani announced the final return of the movement’s main theme, there was one final flourish from Shaham before the orchestra brought this wonderful performance to a triumphant end.
Shaham performed a single encore, Bach’s Gavotte en Rondeau from the Partita for Violin No.3 in E major. It was a pure, perfect moment, with Shaham again suspending time with the lyricism of his playing.
Mahler was born in a small Bohemian village in the southwestern corner of what is now the Czech Republic. The sounds of Mahler’s youth, which ranged from military marches and folk music to that of Klezmer bands, left an indelible impression on him. These influences can be heard in the purely instrumental Symphony No.5, which Mahler described as a ‘foaming, roaring, raging sea of sound’.
Perhaps it was the lingering impact of Bychkov’s reading of the Dvořák Violin Concerto, but this Mahler Fifth seemed lighter and more lyrical than the norm. That is not to say that the performance lacked drama: the trumpets began the opening fanfare with the appropriate air of mystery, and the march was done with the requisite wildness. The second theme, however, marked a return to lyricism as the violins produced a luminous sound that was as soft as could be.
The second movement edged on the demonic, but the cellos’ glassine playing was otherworldly. In the Scherzo, folk dances blended with waltzes, and the highlight was the superb solo horn. The exquisite, hardly audible pizzicato from the strings was a near equal.
Bychkov permitted the Adagietto to unfold naturally. The solo harp passages were not only tantalizingly beautiful but also free-flowing and spontaneous, as was the string sound that floated effortlessly into the hall. Joy reigned in the Rondo finale, with the conductor and orchestra again maintaining a delicate balance between lyricism and exuberance until the coda erupted in an exhilarating outburst of elation.
Rick Perdian
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