UTAH SYMPHONY GIVES SPECTACULAR PERFORMANCE OF ADAMS’ ‘HARMONIELEHRE’

UTAH SYMPHONY, ROBERT MCDUFFIE, VIOLIN, THIERRY FISCHER, CONDUCTOR, Jan. 7, Abravanel Hall; second performance Jan. 8, 8 p.m., tickets through ArtTix.

John Adams has been one of the best known figures in the minimalist movement for decades, and his music has been played by all of the major orchestras in the United States. Here in Salt Lake City, however, he hasn’t been given the exposure he deserves. That’s surprising, since Adams’ music is solidly entrenched in tonality and he can write some lushly romantic melodies that could have originated in late 19th century Germany.

This weekend, music director Thierry Fischer and the Utah Symphony have one of Adams’ best works on the program, the “Harmonielehre” that he wrote in 1985 for the San Francisco Symphony when he was composer-in-residence there.

“Harmonielehre” is a large, intricately conceived work that through its rhythmic complexities places huge demands on the entire orchestra. But at Friday’s performance, Fischer showed that he had immersed himself in the score and conveyed its nuances to the musicians.

The orchestra played fabulously. Even though Adams employs large forces, he uses them frequently as a pool for chamber ensembles of various combinations, much like Gustav Mahler does. And in fact “Harmonielehre” is more indebted to Mahler than one might expect from a contemporary American composer. But rich romanticism has been at the core of Adams’ style and superimposing that onto his minimalist framework is what distinguishes Adams from other minimalist composers.

While there were a few spots throughout the work in which Fischer and the orchestra weren’t quite together on Friday, it was nevertheless a radiant performance and it showed once again that the Fischer/Utah Symphony union is a match made in heaven. This is a collaboration that has a lot to offer.

“Harmonielehre” opened the second half of the program, but before playing it Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker walked onstage with Fischer to present him with the key to the city. Becker said how thrilled he was that Fischer chose the Utah Symphony as his first American music directorship and also mentioned the maestro’s passion for skiing, quipping that Fischer has skied the slopes in Utah as often as he has this season.

The concert opened with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s First Symphony, K. 16, written when he was 8. This is actually quite a wonderful little work, and Fischer’s reading brought out the sweet lyricism of the music. In fact, Fischer brought an almost Schubertian flavor to the work with his hints of romanticism that the musicians picked up on and played with luminous expressions.

Robert McDuffie is this weekend’s soloist in Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto, easily Barber’s best known work and one of the most frequently played violin concertos of the 20th century.

The first two movements are gorgeously romantic, and McDuffie took advantage of that, giving a passionately expressive account that was mirrored in the orchestra’s playing.

The finale is a devilish perpetual motion in which McDuffie mustered up his technical skills and gave a dazzling account. His playing and that of the orchestra’s was filled with virtuosic fireworks.

This entry was posted in Concert Reviews by Edward Reichel. Bookmark the permalink.

About Edward Reichel

Edward Reichel, author, writer and composer, has been covering the classical music scene in Utah since 1997. For many years he served as the primary music critic for the Deseret News. He has also written for a number of publications, including Chamber Music Magazine, OPERA Magazine, 15 Bytes, Park City Magazine and Salt Lake Magazine. He holds a Ph.D. in composition from the University of California at Santa Barbara. He can be reached at ed.reichel@gmail.com. Reichel Recommends is also on Twitter @ReichelArts.

1 thought on “UTAH SYMPHONY GIVES SPECTACULAR PERFORMANCE OF ADAMS’ ‘HARMONIELEHRE’

  1. Pingback: The Many Notable Traditional Variations of Utah Bands Posted By : Joshua A Harding | DC Smooth

Leave a Reply