BWW Reviews: DOHNANYI DOES DVORAK at Avery Fisher Hall

Christoph Dohnanyi Conducts Dvorak

The New York Philharmonic

Avery Fisher Hall - 12/13/14

The only thing missing from the opening week of the New York Philharmonic's "Dohnanyi/Dvorak" festival was Dohnanyi. The legendary conductor was laid out by a bad case of the flu, causing him to miss the first performance of the series. 32 year old Krzysztof Urbanski, the music director of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, stood in for the 85 year old maestro and last week and did a fine job, but after a massive promotional campaign one can be sure the management breathed an equally massive sigh of relief when Dohnanyi returned last Saturday night to an enthusiastic New York welcome.

Mr. Dohnanyi's style remains a study in efficiency. His subtle gestures drew grand playing from the orchestra. His highly nuanced interpretation of Dvorak's Ninth Symphony, "From the New World," (which seems to be on the Philharmonic's calendar every season) was solid and assured, taking several adventurous tempi in the well-worn repertory staple - in fact, he seemed to completely disregard many of the composers specific tempo instructions, especially in the famous largo, which he took as an unusually brisk pace. In addition, he brought forth some dazzlingly brilliant moments from the brass during the latter parts of the symphony.

Dvorak's Piano Concerto in G minor (1876), was also featured on the program and it was a delightful reminder that the composer was far more than a one-hit wonder. The program notes stated that the Phil, amazingly, had not performed the work since 1986.

The Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G minor, is the least well-known (and least performed) of the composer's three concertos, followed by the Violin Concerto in A minor and the famous cello concerto.

32 year old German pianist Martin Helmchen - who has frequently collaborated with Mr. Dohnanyi - made a splendid Philharmonic debut in the rarely performed work. Eminent pianist Leslie Howard, said of the work: "... there is nothing in Liszt that is anywhere near as difficult to play as the Dvo?ák Piano Concerto - a magnificent piece of music, but one of the most ungainly bits of piano writing ever printed."

If the piece is in fact as technically challenging as he suggests, Mr. Helmchen displayed no difficulty whatsoever navigating it. His playing, especially during the tricky chromatic sections, was confident and passionate. For the second half of the concert it was clear that the young soloist was (wittingly or unwittingly) upstaging the legendary maestro at the podium.

On the whole the concert was a wonderful pairing of the familiar and the not-so-familiar, and the appreciative audience responded accordingly with long and loud ovations.

Peter Danish

Classic Music Editor-in-Chief

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