The orchestra’s fine, but where’s it heading?

 

by David Gordon Duke

National Arts Centre Orchestra
Pinchas Zukerman, conductor
Orpheum Theatre, Nov. 10

At this point in its history, the aspirations of the National Arts Centre Orchestra and those of music director Pinchas Zukerman are hard to disentangle. Their program on Wednesday revealed a fine, well-matched chamber orchestra, but raised questions about the ensemble’s current direction.

Vancouver-born Alexina Louie’s Bringing the Tiger Down from the Mountain was composed in the early 1990s as a competition test piece. In a new orchestral guise (zapped up for NACO principal cellist Amanda Forsyth), it’s attractive enough — Louie’s glistening orchestral effects are ever engaging, and the cello writing appropriately showy. But as a curtain raiser of about five minutes duration, it seems a bland and insubstantial token, programmed for who-knows-what reason.

Including portions of Mozart’s early Haffner Serenade had a more obvious rationale. During the first movement Zukerman functioned as conductor; thereafter he did double duty as violin soloist as well, a bit of a stunt, perhaps, though effective enough. In both roles Zukerman’s approach to Mozart is old school, emphasizing gorgeous tone and graceful turns of phrase. Throughout, the orchestral playing was invariably clean and finely rehearsed, the lower strings remarkable for their chiselled elegance, and the winds meticulously blended. But the ensemble’s conventional sound made it hard to imagine that it was once directed by early music specialist Trevor Pinnock.

By far the most interesting item on the program was a performance of Brahms' First Symphony. We’ve become accustomed to hearing it performed by a full symphony orchestra, but Brahms often used ensembles almost exactly the same size of the NACO. Given the work’s fine balance between romantic sensibility and classical structure, the clarity and precision of smaller forces has considerable appeal.

On Wednesday refined detail was intriguingly revealed: the sensitive solo oboe work in the Andante sostenuto was restrained yet penetrating; the rhythmic complexity of the Un poco Allegretto e grazioso was more telling than usual.

Almost from the opening, however, Zukerman’s overall conception of the piece appeared suspect. The First is above all about form; it is as finely argued and impressively coherent a work as the mature Brahms, with all his skill, could craft. Zukerman lost energy and drive by fussing over small lyric effects, reducing the work to a sprawling collection of ephemeral, lovely moments. The concluding finale became little more than a star turn for a conductor unwilling to trust the eloquence and power of the music.

Vancouver Sun
12 Nov. 2004

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