Quite a play of classical contrasts…
Sunday brought the Philharmonia Orchestra of Yale to Carnegie Hall for a reading of Messiaen’s Turangalîla Symphonie, with Reinbert de Leeuw conducting. A gifted older maestro, young and hungry players — the mix couldn’t have been more combustible. The sprawling 10-movement work of the mid-’40s involves spine-tingling sustained crescendos and hints of Romanticism, and uses a strange electronic keyboard called the ondes Martenot, played beautifully by Geneviève Grenier. I took a close look right before the concert and it looked like the kind of ancient-to-the-future device that could easily turn up on a Brooklyn jazz bandstand. But most of all, hats off to featured pianist Wei-Yi Yang, who nearly did windmills while pounding out Messiaen’s unfathomable chords, landing with fine dynamic control and perfect enunciation.
Tuesday my wife and I braved the cold and sleet for Daniel Barenboim conducting Tristan und Isolde at the Met. Wagner’s revolutionary score was the star here. Katarina Dalayman was not in full voice as Isolde and had to be replaced by Susan Foster for Act III. Peter Seiffert was solid as Tristan, but I was struck more by the purposeful and charismatic supporting roles, particularly the bass-baritones: Gerd Grochowski as Kurvenal, Tristan’s ponytailed aide; and Kwangchul Youn as King Marke, whose bone-chilling solo toward the end of Act II was underlined with sinuous bass clarinet. My wife wasn’t crazy about some of the stage direction and she had a point, although the minimalist set had a strong allure.
Act III opened with Tristan, wounded, lying on a blanket that slowly descended from back to front via some unseen mechanical guide wire. At first you thought you were seeing things. The long, unaccompanied English horn solo that sounds at this point is so important that the player, Pedro R. Díaz, received a listing in the Playbill alongside the singers.
The last Wagner I saw was Die Walküre, an action movie in comparison, involving mountains and fire and Viking ladies with spears. Tristan requires a higher degree of patience. But with Barenboim at the podium, the music pulls you in and keeps you there, right up to the final wrenching love song.
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