Violin virtuoso Karen Gomyo dazzled the audience with an electrifying performance of Sergei Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No 1 with the Oregon Symphonyand guest conductor Pietari Inkinen on Saturday evening (February 6) at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Gomyo articulated the piece with a unique combination of precision and flair. Her impeccable technique gave the fast passages a wild and carefree flavor no matter how fast they went by. In the second movement, Gomyo executed some buzzing – almost squawking – sounds from her Stradivarius, which added some humor to the piece. I also loved Gomyo’s lyrical playing against the tick toc accompaniment of the orchestra at the beginning of the third movement and the wry sound when JáTtik Clark, principal tuba, joined the fray. The piece concluded enthusiastically as Gomyo floated tones that effortlessly rose to the top.
The orchestra opened the concert with a lush and soothing performance of Richard Wagner’s “Siegfried Idyll.” The entire piece unfolded organically, led by beautiful, unified tones from the strings, but other sections of the orchestra deserve plenty of credit as well, especially John Cox, principal horn, for the golden, burnished sounds that he created. Karen Wagner, assistant principal oboe, also played exquisitely. The birdsongs and other forest sounds seemed to rise out of orchestra naturally and made this piece very satisfying.
The slow pace that worked for the Wagner piece, didn’t work as well when the orchestra played Jean Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2. Inkinen never quickened the tempos anywhere, and, to my ears, the piece lost all of its drama. Also the volume level was medium loud to really loud. Consequently, there was a lot of grand sound, and a number of huge pauses, but the piece became bloated, especially at the end when the massive chords finally resolved all of the tension that had been building. I heard a lot of cheering from the audience after the piece concluded, but I think that it would’ve been deafening if some adjustments would’ve been made.
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We are on the same page as far as the Prokofiev and Wagner are concerned. However, I was one of those cheering wildly in response to the Sibelius. Given your comments and those of Charles Noble on his web site, I wonder if my reaction was off base. That is what is so unsettling about classical music. It is so subjective and difficult to objectively analyze. I’ve been surprised on more than one occasion when I’ve thought a performance was good, only to find critical reaction to be far different. Personally, I liked the pauses in the Sibelius and thought the piece was nicely shaped and presented. I also liked Inkinen’s conducting style. It was interesting to read Charles’ comments about playing for him. I wonder whether we will ever see him again in Portland if the musicians had difficulty following him.
Hi Curtis,
Thanks for voicing your perspective. But I just didn’t care for the slowness! I have seen so many conducting styles, including some that are truly puzzling (like Gergiev with Kirov Orchestra). I’m not sure that what works for one group works for another. The werid thing with Inkinen was that he seemed to be slowing down and slowing down – especially at the end. I’m note sure if he was trying a new approach or what. Yet the stamina and playing ability of the orchestra to attempt to follow him was admirable. This is a well trained group of musicians. Let’s try to bring Gergiev here and see what happens!