Chee-Yun, violin.
The four violin concerti that make up Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” seem to be somehow firmly lodged in our cultural collective unconscious. I have friends who have never attended a classical concert who could hum along to the opening of Spring, who would knowingly tap along to the ‘peasant dance’ that signifies the start of Autumn. To say it is an icon is both a cliche and seems to somehow sell it short. Aside from this feeling that I’ve always known the piece, I couldn’t say I when I first heard it, but I would hope that I was lucky enough to first encounter it under the kind of ideal conditions created by The National Philharmonic; under Piotr Gajewski with soloist Chee-Yun on Saturday night in the Music Center at Strathmore.
Chee-Yun is an exceptional performer, as accomplished in her passage work as she is powerful in her stage presence, but I am struck by another, subtle skill that also distinguishes her. She knows how to lead – to stand out – able to rise above the ensemble, even with simple articulations and extremely fine dynamic control, but she also knows exactly when and how to become part of the ensemble. She blended perfectly during the tutti sections of the Vivaldi as well as the ‘chamber’ moments. For example, the dawn chorus after the first refrain of Spring, as a beautiful interplay of bird-song between soloists from across the ensemble emerges. This capacity to be both soloist and ensemble member is essential for Vivaldi, and Chee-Yun achieved it, effortlessly, with an instinctive musicality.
Interspersed through the Vivaldi was another ‘seasonal’ work, Astor Piazzolla’s “Las Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas” (The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires). Originally written for various other occasions, this work took its current form, and performance practice, from another violin virtuoso, Gidon Kremer, and the Russian composer Leonid Desyatnikov, who expanded the solo violin line and changed the instrumental forces, to match Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons,” also adding quotations and appropriations from Vivaldi.
…the Piazzolla remained beautifully rich and moving.
The three-movement structure of the baroque concerto allows for a certain amount of inherent formal contrast, which Vivaldi exploits further through his use of specific visual images specified in the score, and the seasonal musical allegories. “Veraño Porteño,” Piazzolla’s Summer, though cast in a single movement, has a particularly compelling structure of contrasts too, and the stylistic contrast between Italian baroque and contemporary Argentinian, underpinning the whole concert, brings an interesting texture to Vivaldi’s well-known work. Chee-Yun and Piotr Gajewski made the dramatic shifts in style (and hemisphere) seamlessly. It even seemed that Gajewski learned from Piazzolla an energy and drive which he was able to bring back, for the better, to Vivaldi.
The ensemble, however, didn’t always feel quite as comfortable in Buenos Aires, as Venice. While there was an unbridled and vivacious tone to Chee-Yun’s solo lines from the very beginning of the Piazzolla that seemed to capture the beating heart of the music, the orchestra was more restrained, even timid, particularly with the percussive sounds of the lower strings. As a music heavily imbued with dance rhythms, the clarity and presence of rhythmic articulation is imperative, and was not as strong in some of the more rhythmically intricate moments, though the lyrical sections of the Piazzolla remained beautifully rich and moving.
The second movement of Vivaldi’s Spring took a few seconds to become rhythmically secure, while the ‘murmuring’ violins, ‘barking’ viola and lyrical solo line were brilliantly full of character. Gajewski’s ‘Adagio molto,’ which evokes the ‘dozing drunkards’ of Autumn, seemed to be more restless than dozing in a movement that is otherwise wonderfully sparse. The cello solo in Buenos Aires’ Autumn was beautifully expressive, while Chee-Yun’s col legno (playing the violin with the wood of the bow) sang out at a volume and with clarity sometimes extremely difficult to achieve as a solo instrument using that technique.
Piazzolla’s “Las Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas” flatters Vivaldi in the hands of its re-composer Desyatnikov and as re-conceived by Kremer, without ever being allowed to develop or stand on its own. The idea of experiencing and contrasting the seasons in two hemispheres is tantalizing, but the realization is weighted towards Europe, and more fun than informative. The comical final moments of Piazzolla’s Spring – the continuo player suddenly coming to life to recap Vivaldi’s main theme – elicited a reasonable titter from the audience.
Accompanying the concert was a collaboration between The National Philharmonic and VisArts at Rockville, called “Color The Music,” encouraging local students between the ages of 5 and 17 to respond to Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons.” Judging by the number of younger audience members, this was as successful as it is commendable. If Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” really is part of our collective unconscious, and if we want it to remain so, then engaging young audiences is incredibly important. Why do we return to this work? I don’t know, but I hope these children will one day be able to return to “The Four Seasons,” and feel like they’ve always known it like it’s always been there, just as I did, and do so at a concert as good as this one.
Running Time: 110 minutes
“The National Philharmonic: Chee-Yun Plays The Four Seasons” was performed on the 8th and 9th of October at the Music Center at Strathmore. For more information click here.
