Review: Birdsong and more at concert
Maniacal chirps, squawks and caws had the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra’s audience scanning the theater for feathered creatures who may have taken up shelter indoors.
But none were to be found except in the score of Einojuhani Rautavaara’s Cantus Arcticus; Concerto for Birds and Orchestra, which the RPO performed Thursday and will repeat tonight.
Wild, arctic birds served as the work’s soloists through a pre-recorded soundtrack that played against a cinematic orchestral accompaniment. The woodwinds imitated the winged animals with flutters and key clicks. Using birdsong as a compositional technique is more historically attributed to Messiaen, but Rautavaara did so in this work with great originality.
Perched on the podium was Finnish conductor Hannu Lintu in his RPO debut.
Lintu kept his movements light, keeping time without being too insistent. During the times where he opened up his conducting, his tall, lanky body fell into irregular angles that communicated effectively, if not necessarily gracefully.
He gave the RPO due space in Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 1. He offered freedom to the RPO principal players, who took advantage of Shostakovich’s quirky writing with standout solos.
Timpanist Charles Ross especially commanded attention, contrasting his louder bangs with whispering ones, using the orchestra’s silence to pull the audience’s ears into his playing.
Also in a debut, violinist Augustin Hadelich performed the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto.
The popular work is most often played by fledgling violinists as a rite of passage, as was so for the 25-year-old Hadelich, winner of the 2009 Avery Fisher Career Grant and Gold Medalist at the 2006 Indianapolis International Violin Competition. The work’s unforgettable melodies are dressed up with endless opportunities for grandiose showmanship; Hadelich had enough stamina to blaze through the work’s pyrotechnics.
Hadelich also took the time to enjoy the work’s lyrical moments, though. He slowed down passages in the first movement to reveal a maturing sensitive side, so much so that Lintu had extra work to push the orchestra back up to speed.
Most endearing about Hadelich was his unvarnished tone quality. His bowing avoided nicks and scratches, when not digging into the lower registers of the violin. Hadelich gave up some projection for that cleanliness; smaller tone qualities like his get devoured in large halls like Eastman Theatre. However, it was a fair compensation.
Following a standing ovation, Hadelich seemed to ask Lintu for permission to play an encore. Obliging, Lintu hopped off the stage and took a seat in the front row to enjoy the performance of Paganini’s Caprice No. 17 with the audience.
AREGUERO@DemocratandChronicle.com
If you go
What: Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, with guest conductor Hannu Lintu and violinist Augustin Hadelich.
When: 8 p.m. today.
Where: Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre, 60 Gibbs St.
Cost: $20 to $75.
Tickets: (585) 454-2100 or www.rpo.org.
