Pianist dazzles with Dvorak in WSO debut

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This article was published 01/05/2022 (1592 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra closed its 2021/22 Masterworks season with a bang Saturday night, seemingly shaking its collective fist at the pandemic fates that demanded nearly all concerts to be presented online last season, while reminding 1015 listeners — not that we needed it — of the raw, visceral power of live music.

The final offering in its (A)bsolute Classics series, Dvorak and Tchaikovsky 4, led by Daniel Raiskin featured internationally renowned Czech pianist Lukáš Vondráček marking his WSO debut with music from his homeland: Dvorak’s lesser-heard Concerto in G minor for Piano and Orchestra, so clearly in his blood and bones.

It’s also taken 19 long years for local audiences to hear the composer’s sole piano concerto, with the maestro noting during his introductory remarks that its originally planned performance for 2003 was abruptly cancelled due to its then indisposed soloist, quipping that Vondráček – and his close personal friend – had “shown up” and thus we would finally get to hear this long-awaited WSO première.

After Raiskin set a relatively brisk tempo that instilled lightness and elegant grace into the opening movement, “Allegro agitato,” the pianist immediately got down to the matter at hand, displaying his bravura as well as crisp attack during its opening theme. His remarkable palette of tonal colour included artfully voiced chords, matched equally by a rhythmic acuity as precise as a bull’s-eye, as he performed the three-movement work with conviction. His deep trust between himself and maestro, the latter cueing the orchestral tutti sections flawlessly became palpable.

A particular highlight proved to be Vondráček’s luminous, introspective slow movement, “Andante sostenuto,” bringing delicacy to its lines, while projecting even his most pianississimo tones in his uppermost register that rang like crystalline bells.

He then unleashed his full arsenal of pyrotechnics, including tossing off Dvorak’s — a violinist/violist by trade who reportedly struggled with writing for piano — rapid-fire double thirds like child’s play, with take-no-prisoners scalar passages.

As expected, the artist received a rousing standing ovation with a demand for three curtain calls, leading to a perfect, lyrical encore of Chopin.

Among Canada’s finest composers is Winnipeg-born Jocelyn Morlock; a Brandon University music alumnus now based in Vancouver, B.C. The composer, whose music frequently pops up on the annual Winnipeg New Music Festival stage, notably became appointed the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s inaugural composer-in-residence by the VSO’s then maestro and former WSO music director, Bramwell Tovey in 2014.

Based on the tragic death and courage of Canadian teenager, Amanda Todd who took her own life after being cyber-bullied, My Name is Amanda Todd displayed Morlock’s keen ear for orchestration, evoking the works of Messiaen with her sensitive writing for winds, including bird-like, flute chirps and gossamer light embellishments. The shorter tone poem that notably garnered a 2018 Juno award for Best Classical Composition ends on a hopeful note, as a call-to-arms to the global community to continue waging war against the internet’s darker forces.

The 135-minute program (including intermission) closed with Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36,” a.k.a. the Russian composer’s “Fate”symphony for its bristling fanfare that opens the tempestuous work.

Admittedly, it took a while for this performance to find its “groove,” at times feeling uneven during the opening movement, including overly zealous, even strident brass seemingly chomping at the bit for their moment to shine during the rafter-raising finale.

Kudos to principal oboist Beverly Wang for her expressive solo that launches the second movement, “Andantino in modo di canzona,” delivered with singing tone, before the subsequent “Scherzo,” the latter featuring a tightly cohesive, entire string section in pizzicato. Then the heavens opened with “Allegro con fuoco,” with the St. Petersburg-born maestro — even literally shaking his fist at one point — and his players holding nothing back, proving that “Russian soul,” despite efforts to ostensibly censor these iconic works in light of the current crisis in Ukraine, is alive and very well indeed, given its most potent voice in music from the Motherland, and the passionate artists that make it.

For further information or a link to the concert available online on demand, visit the WSO website.

holly.harris@shaw.ca