Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto has a reputation. When it was first delivered in 1939 – to Joseph Fels, who commissioned it for his son – there was a prolonged battle over it’s “playability.” It has eventually become one of the most performed of 20th century concertos.
On Saturday, at Frank Almond’s performance of the concerto with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, a breeze blew Almond’s sheet music closed. Violinist Ilana Setapen jumped up to help as Almond kept playing, avoiding the interruption. But Almond seemed to keep close to the stand throughout the third movement, waiting for a repeat performance.
It mattered not one whit to the music at hand, which Almond drove with furious energy and technical skill. In the concerto’s first two movements, the mood is more lyrical, and he played with an unlabored and graceful ease. Where I sat – near the 15th row on the stage left side – there were a few balance problems between orchestra and soloist. But they only detracted slightly from the obvious pleasure in this lush and gorgeously performed piece.
Bartok’s splashy Concerto for Orchestra was the main event, and Edo de Waart and the orchestra made it a showcase for dynamic contrasts and blend of classical form with loose and folksy melodies. In the opening number, de Waart conducted familiar music from Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite as if it was fresh and new. And the way the ensemble handled the music – from the lilting unison violin melody in “Anitra’s Dance” to the finely balanced harmonies of “Ase’s Death” – showed that the orchestra continues to be in good hands.
