WSO opens new musical series, debuts Canadian cellist Bryan Cheng

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/10/2022 (1413 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra shook a defiant fist at the cruel forces of political tyranny Saturday night, opening its (B)eyond Classics series with Shostakovitch’s musical juggernaut “Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93”written in the wake of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin’s death in 1953.

Saturday night’s aptly titled program, “Raiskin Conducts Shostakovich” also notably featured the WSO debut of Canadian cellist Bryan Cheng, 25, performing Tchaikovsky’s decidedly kinder, gentler “Variations on a Rococo Theme for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 33” that served as a counterbalance for the firestorms to come. This performance featured the composer’s “original” score, in lieu of the arguably more popular adaptation by cellist Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, last heard on this stage in 2013 — and Cheng’s debut of this “prototype.”

The internationally acclaimed, Berlin-based soloist is one of those wonderful artists who ooze confidence and conviction, knowing exactly what he wants to say with his music-making, and how to bring his ideas to life with plenty of personality and pizzazz.

After striding onstage with his burnished 1699 “Dubois” Stradivarius cello in hand, Cheng launched into his Baroque-inspired theme after the brief orchestral introduction, immediately charming the audience of 748 while projecting to the very back of the hall with every carefully nuanced, controlled stroke of his bow.

The highly expressive player’s knack at easily slipping between the estimated 20-minute work’s shifting moods were displayed throughout, from the second variation’s playful dialogue with orchestra as a particular highlight, to his soulful, recitative-like cadenzas worthy of an opera diva, matched equally by Raiskin’s simpatico cuing of orchestral tutti entries.

Cheng’s richly resonant tone particularly in his lowest register allowed his lyrical, cantilena lines to sing during the sixth variation, while skipping through quicksilver runs during the fourth, performed with bulls-eye rhythmic acuity. After receiving a rousing standing ovation, he treated listeners to an impassioned encore of Ernest Bloch’s “Prayer,” excerpted from his “From Jewish Life,” a final benediction and grace note to his dazzling performance.

It is hoped that Cheng will return — and soon — to perform the previously slated “Cello Concerto, Op. 37” by Korngold, pulled at the last minute owing the WSO’s stated “forces beyond our control,” in (yet) another season of COVID-19. Many musicians were once more sporting facial masks that have largely been absent this fall, as a grim reminder of the times in which we now live.

A “live” performance of Shostakovich’s monumental work must surely be included on every music aficionado’s proverbial bucket list, last performed here in 2010 under the baton of Andrey Boreyko.

The Russian-born maestro, with this music so clearly in his blood and bones, held nothing back during the estimated 50-minute performance, pushing his players to the max with an unrelenting dramatic intensity from the opening “Moderato’s” lugubrious, brooding depths through to the finale “Andante — Allegro.” A few stray horn notes did not detract from the work’s overall forward thrust.

What became immediately clear is Raiskin’s sense of overall architecture during his well-paced approach, with the music not immediately seizing you by the throat, but gradually tightening its vice grip into a stranglehold while offering only a few brief sections of repose.

The composer’s darkly acerbic portrait of Stalin, a.k.a. the “Allegro,” did not disappoint, delivered at blistering pace with kudos to the wind players, punctuated by rat-a-tat snare drums adding further military drive. The subsequent “Allegretto” returned — thankfully — to (slightly) more civilized climes, laced by the composer’s “DSCH” musical monogram representing his own initials as a vehement declaration of personal identity in Stalin’s repressive society. The finale returned to low strings, with flutes and piccolo lines piercing this dark night of the soul, in this enthralling — and often overwhelming performance — that had audience members on the edge of their seats, numb by the end however still able to spring to their feet for a thunderous ovation.

The program also featured the local premiere of Ukrainian composer Maxim Berezovsky’’s “Symphony in C,” a compact, Mozartian-inspired ear-pleaser notably discovered in the Vatican archives in the early 2000’s, that launched the eclectic evening on a bright, sprightly note.

Holly.harris@shaw.ca

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