The Philadelphia, 2 Maestros and Tuba Shine

 

The storied relationship between the Philadelphia Orchestra and the University Music Society (UMS) in Ann Arbor goes back to 1913 when they first appeared there under the baton of Leopold Stokowski.  The orchestra’s triumphant return to Ann Abor last weekend (March 11-12, 2022) marked their 269^th and 270^th performance at Hill Auditorium.

The orchestra’s residency at UMS this year had many reasons to attract a big audience. The first of the two concerts was helmed by conducting phenom and Philadelphia’s music director Yannick Nezet-Sequin, the orchestra’s principal guest conductor, Nathalie Stutzmann who is also a rising star, conducted the second concert, and the featured soloist was the brilliant tubist Carol Jantsch, who happens to be an alum of the University of Michigan, playing a new work by Wynton Marsalis.

Because of this stellar line up, Hill Auditorium which seats 3300 was nearly full at both concerts, despite COVID fears.

Although Nezet-Seguin is only 46 years old, it cannot be overstated how important a conductor he is right now.  He not only holds this prestigious post with the Philadelphia but is also Music Director of the Metropolitan Opera in New York and Montreal’s (his hometown) Orchestra Metropolitain.

A recent article in the NYTimes stated, “Omnipresent and energetic, he has been one of the central figures in New York’s cultural re-emergence, and certainly the city’s most significant and visible classical musician at a transformative moment”.

Watching him conduct his orchestra was a visual as well as an aural experience.  At 5 ft. 5, he stands on an oversized podium with the energy of a tightened spring ready to snap. Nezet-Seguin is intense, focused and totally dedicated to the music.

Friday’s concert began with Jantsch soloing with a new concerto written for her by jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. Jantsch displayed a gorgeous velvet sound on the huge instrument.

The concerto was written in four movements, Up!, Boogaloo Americana, Lament, and In Bird’s Basement. The piece was delightful and funky, but at times, the orchestration (especially in the first movement) covered the tuba’s sensitive sound. The tuba after all is placed in the back row of the orchestra, rarely heard on its own by the audience.  It provides the foundation to the chords rather the predominant melodies.

Lifting the tuba to that of a solo instrument is a challenging mission for a composer.  In most cases, Marsalis was successful using colorful instrumentation and a percussion section featuring 26 instruments (some I’ve never heard of) but yet was not overpowering.

Changing styles completely, Nezet-Seguin and his musicians then tackled one of the concert hall’s most beloved pieces, Brahms Symphony No.1.  And here the energetic conductor showed his Michigan audience what he was made of. From beginning to end he was intense and linked, eyeball to eyeball, to his orchestra.

The music shimmered with beauty as Nezet-Seguin bent over to cajole his musicians through each musical phrase, emphasizing the warmth and emotion of the music.  He took nothing for granted, following each melody as it went from instrument to instrument. One time, when leading his band in a dramatic crescendo he let out a huge growl, surprising the audience. He was probably not even aware of the outburst.

The entire performance was an intense experience for the audience as well as the musicians. Nezet-Seguin’s interpretations seemed so right, that one cannot imagine the music played any other way. The sound of the orchestra was full and rich, balanced and brilliant. The basses and cellos were especially impressive.

At the exciting conclusion of the Brahms, the French-Canadian conductor drove his orchestra to a truly breathtaking crescendo and high speed accelerando. I have never seen an orchestra work so hard for their maestro. When the Brahms ended, the audience exploded in applause.

For the encore Carol Jantsch returned to play her tuba in a flashy version of the Hail to The Victors, with Nezet-Seguin wearing a Michigan hat. The Hill Auditorium crowd was in heaven.

The following night, a concert conducted by Nathalie Stutzmann was equally thrilling in many ways.  It began with a lackluster contemporary piece and then highlighted the orchestra’s concertmaster (David Kim) in the playing of the Violin Concerto No 1 by Max Bruch. Although his technique was flawless, his playing lacked the fire and passion that marks a great soloist.

The main event of the concert was the playing of the very difficult Symphony No. 9 “The Great” in C major by Schubert. Although, Stutzmann has a more lyrical conducting style than Nezet-Seguin, the orchestra played with focus and intensity. Recently appointed as the Music Director of the Atlanta Symphony, Stutzmann is also an accomplished singer who approached the Schubert with a deep sensitivity for melody and phrasing. 

Since Schubert was a song writer, Stutzmann’s interpretation was in perfect keeping with the composer’s style.  She brought out the lyricism and the broad rubato (like bel canto) that the music required. Her attention to phrasing did not diminish the clarity and technical proficiency of the orchestra. The players snapped out the accents adding zing to the lines. And after they ended the phrases with slow expressiveness, the orchestra jumped right back into the tempo primo that began the section.

The Schubert is a huge piece (50 minutes), but Stutzmann keep her musicians on focus until the very end. Although her conducting style looks far different than Nezet-Seguin’s, the orchestra had the same drive and emotional urgency. 

Amazingly, the Philadelphia Orchestra declared bankruptcy ten years ago.  Judging from these two spectacular evenings of music, they are now back to their glory days.  One audience member was heard saying “They haven’t sounded this good in 50 years.” It is obvious why Yannick Nezet-Seguin has been with the Philadelphians for ten years. This is a perfect musical marriage.