Two Evenings with the Orchestra (Part II, Julia Fischer)

Julia Fischer after the last note

Thanking the conductor

Greeting Associate Concertmaster Tamara Smirnova

Conductor Pavvo Berglund at the end of the concert

The second evening I went to the Symphony was on October 25th. The program was the last of the four concerts celebrating the 100th anniversary of the premiere of Sibelius' Violin Concerto. The conductor, Pavvo Berglund, was Sibelius' fellow countryman. The Finnish conductor, one of the most distinguished musicians, has won his reputation on the podiums of the world's greatest orchestras. Not until he appeared on the stage did I know that the old gentleman had to walk with a cane. He conducted the whole concert (about 2 hours) from a chair placed on the podium. Even though he was not free to walk, his music ideas, expressed through his baton with the orchestra, were brilliant and upbeat. His conducting was anything but an old and fragile man.

Julia Fischer, the 22-year-old German violinist, made her BSO debut with the Sibelius Concerto. Her 1750 Guadagnini violin in her hand, she walked onto the stage in a red dress, very beautiful and elegant. Before I went to the concert, I checked out Julia's website. I saw that concert-goers in Boston had already signed her guest book and she had really impressed her audience. Thus seeing her bowing gracefully on stage to the audience, I had already started loving her. Music ensued soon after. From her violin came the melancholy opening, quiet, sweet, and nostalgic, like the northern wind sweeping through a wintry landscape. The violin concerto is in B minor. So it was no surprise that it was a little sad and moody at times. But it eventually went through a lot of developments and in the end of the third movement, it gave the audience a satisfying upbeat ending. I had not paid much attention to this concerto before because I was too absorbed with the big four violin concerti (Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, and Tchaikovsky). But since this concert, this has become my new favorite.

My observation: Concertmaster Malcolm Lowe did not participate in the violin concerto, though he showed up for the Shostakovich Symphony and played some prominent solo themes. My understanding: 一山不容二虎。

I totally love Shostakovich's 8th Symphony! From all that I could find in the program I had the impression that this was a very sad and dark piece and so it was a big surprise that it was relatively very much upbeat. Maybe it did not end in the ultimate triumphant note, but in my opinion, the darkest symphony would be Tchaikovsky's 6th. Shostakovich's 8th is a long symphony, running for more than 1 hour. I especially liked the third movement. It was very rhythmic and witty and I thought that it was some kind of dance. Only afterwards did I learn from the program that it was a death march. Oh well. Who says I have to follow the program? I have my own rights to imagine.

Here you can listen to excerpts:

Sibelius Violin Concerto - BSO, Leinsdorf, Perlman
It shows the technique, not necessarily the beauty of the concerto.

Shostakovich's 8th Symphony - BSO, Previn