The Community Arts-Music Association’s first concert of the new year will be a performance by the Saint Louis Symphony, conducted by music director David Robertson, at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 16, in the Granada Theatre, 1214 State Street.
The gifted violinist, Augustin Hadelich, will be the soloist in the concerted work.
The Saint Louis’ program will consist of three works: the Dances from Powder Her Face (2007) by Thomas Adès; Benjamin Britten‘s “Violin Concerto in d-minor, Opus 15 (1939)” (with Augustin Hadelich); and Dmitri Shostakovich‘s “Symphony No.1 in f-minor, Opus 10 (1926).”
Although the St. Louis Symphony, founded in 1880, is the second-oldest symphony orchestra in the U.S. (New York Philharmonic, founded in 1842, is the oldest), it achieved its present status as one of the half-dozen greatest orchestras in the U.S., rather more recently, with the tenure as music director of Leonard Slatkin (1979–96).
As a promoter of all things Santa Barbara, I am obliged to point out that Santa Barbara native, violinist Nina Bodnar, served a season or two as concertmaster during Slatkin’s reign.
In the two decades since Slatkin’s departure, the Saint Louis has maintained its position in the pack and has gone from strength to strength. It has remained a force to be reckoned with in the musical life of the United States.
Slatkin’s programs were always diverse and interesting, but he chiefly impressed me as a persuasive champion of the huge symphonies of Elgar, Sibelius, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, Shostakovich and others.
Judging from this program, though the Shostakovich seems to provide some continuity, Robertson’s interests lie elsewhere. All three works are indisputably “modern,” But it is a modernism of delicacy and tact, of elegance and grace.
Shostakovich’s mordant wit can often seem heavy-handed. Here, he is merely cheeky and nimble (I daresay he had barely heard the name of Stalin, let alone had a run-in with him).
If you have ever read me, you probably have encountered my strong antipathy with Benjamin Britten. With a few exceptions — “The Prince of the Pagodas;” the “Sinfonia da Requiem” — his music bores me to an almost pathological degree.
Now, I find that the “Violin Concerto” is one of those exceptions: a very great and beautiful work, possibly his masterpiece.
Tickets to this concert are $39-$119, and can be purchased at the Granada box office, by phone at 899-2222, or on line at ticketing.granadasb.org/single/SYOS.aspx?p=9961&promo=17697.
— Gerald Carpenter covers the arts as a Noozhawk contributing writer. He can be reached at gerald.carpenter@gmail.com. The opinions expressed are his own.