New York Phil 定期デビューのYuja Wang

若き新世代天才ピアニストYuja Wang は，これまでもNew York Philharmonic と協演してきましたが，ツアーに同行するなどでしたから，その本拠地での定期公演への出演は，今回が初めてだったそうです．
指揮者はオランダ出身で51歳のJaap van Zweden ，the music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra since 2008で，たいへん評判の高い人です．

プログラムは，
her signature piece: Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto, a formidably challenging Neo-Classical work
Mahler’s popular First Symphony
の２曲でした． 

Ms. Wang is not above virtuosic stunts, like her hyperfast rendition of Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumble Bee.” But at her best, she is a thoughtful musician with an ear for color, texture and harmony. 

After the tranquil orchestral introduction, Ms. Wang jumped into the main section of the bustling first movement, tossing off the busy passagework with brio, dispatching bursts of chords and arm-blurring octaves with ease.

There were insightful musical touches in her playing, as in the grim episode with weighty chords that leads to a contrasting playful theme. Ms. Wang punched out those chords with steely sound, while also highlighting a sly inner voice.

Her tempos over all, especially in the finale, were brisk to the point of breathlessness.
と自分流のすごく早いテンポで押し通したようです．

Mr. van Zweden provided consistent backing, but sometimes rhythmic details sounded rushed and clipped. In a performance of this work with Claudio Abbado and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, available on a EuroArts DVD, Ms. Wang takes swift tempos, but Mr. Abbado reins her in just enough so that her playing has a little more grace and articulate rhythm. Yet Ms. Wang is a wonder. The audience stood and cheered her.  

つまり，van Zweden も精一杯にリズムに合わせていましたが，どうしてもsometimes rhythmic details sounded rushed and clipped.になってしまったそうです．
引き合いに Claudio Abbado and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra,が上げられて，Abbado は，Mr. Abbado reins her in just enough で，a little more grace and articulate rhythm. だったのに，この夜は早すぎたと示唆しています．

それでも聴衆の熱狂はたいへんなもので，スタンディング･オベーションが続いたようです．

マーラーの熱演の後には，van Zweden も，同様の聴衆からの喝采を浴びたようです．

この音楽評のタイトルが，Star Pianist Establishes the Tempo of the Night となっていることにご留意下さい．

 

 

Music Review

Star Pianist Establishes the Tempo of the Night

Philharmonic, With Jaap van Zweden Conducting Yuja Wang

By ANTHONY TOMMASINI

Published: April 13, 2012

If you consider how far in advance artists are booked at major American orchestras, it did not take the New York Philharmonic long to schedule the fast-rising Dutch conductor Jaap van Zweden’s debut with the orchestra , which took place on Thursday night at Avery Fisher Hall. Mr. van Zweden, an accomplished violinist who came later to conducting, is not widely known in America. Now 51, he has been thriving as the music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra since 2008, and he brought the orchestra to Carnegie Hall last May for an impressive program as part of the Spring for Music Festival.

Ruby Washington/The New York Times

New York Philharmonic, with the pianist Yuja Wang, in a performance conducted by Jaap van Zweden at Avery Fisher Hall on Thursday.

Mahler’s popular First Symphony was the major work he chose for his Philharmonic debut. From the dynamic, all-out performance he conducted, it seems clear that he came to town determined to make music and make an impression. He did both on Thursday. If the performance was sometimes too feisty and intense, it was certainly exciting.

But before the Mahler, Mr. van Zweden showed his ability to work with a young virtuoso. The pianist Yuja Wang made her subscription series debut with the Philharmonic in this program, having twice performed with the orchestra on the road in 2006. A technically phenomenal performer with a flair for fashion, she has become a YouTube sensation.

Ms. Wang is not above virtuosic stunts, like her hyperfast rendition of Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumble Bee.” But at her best, she is a thoughtful musician with an ear for color, texture and harmony.

For this debut she played a signature piece: Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto, a formidably challenging Neo-Classical work. After the tranquil orchestral introduction, Ms. Wang jumped into the main section of the bustling first movement, tossing off the busy passagework with brio, dispatching bursts of chords and arm-blurring octaves with ease.

There were insightful musical touches in her playing, as in the grim episode with weighty chords that leads to a contrasting playful theme. Ms. Wang punched out those chords with steely sound, while also highlighting a sly inner voice.

Her tempos over all, especially in the finale, were brisk to the point of breathlessness. Mr. van Zweden provided consistent backing, but sometimes rhythmic details sounded rushed and clipped. In a performance of this work with Claudio Abbado and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, available on a EuroArts DVD, Ms. Wang takes swift tempos, but Mr. Abbado reins her in just enough so that her playing has a little more grace and articulate rhythm. Yet Ms. Wang is a wonder. The audience stood and cheered her.

In the Mahler Mr. van Zweden put a higher priority on musical character and dramatic impact than on flawless execution and textured sound. In the first movement his muscular, insistent interpretation lacked the autumnal cast I associate with this music. In the second movement, a sort of hardy scherzo, Mr. van Zweden captured the heavy-footed, folk-dance spirit, though the playing was almost rigidly emphatic.

The slow movement, seemingly a funeral march, was very good, played with rustic character and just enough rawness to convey the implied parody. Mahler marks the opening of the finale “With violent movement,” and for that, the kinetic Mr. van Zweden is your man. He drew blazing playing from the orchestra, which contrasted with the dreamy beauty of the lyrical midsection.

After the rousing brassy fanfare brought the piece to an end, the audience erupted in an ovation that rivaled Ms. Wang’s, which is saying something.