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New York / Masur / The New York Times / 30 avril 2008 |
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From France Avec Style, a Mingling of Generations
Anthony Tommasini
Last Thursday, after an impressive concert in Paris, the musicians of the Orchestre National de France and their conductor, Kurt Masur, headed to the airport to embark on an American tour. In Paris at the time, I heard that concert at the orchestra’s home, the Art Deco-styled Théâtre des Champs-Élysées.
This noted orchestra, run by Radio France, arrived at Avery Fisher Hall on Wednesday night for the first of two programs. And I was there to hear it again in surroundings well known to Mr. Masur from his days at the New York Philharmonic.
Though the orchestra is traveling with Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony, which I heard in Paris, the program on Wednesday offered another war horse, Dvorak’s “New World” Symphony, as its main item.
But there was welcome news in the first half: The 26-year-old French pianist David Fray made his New York debut as soloist in a captivating performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat. Last year, for his debut recording on the Virgin Classics label, Mr. Fray adventurously coupled works by Bach and Pierre Boulez in lucid, sensitive and imaginative performances. It took artistic honesty to introduce himself to New York audiences with Beethoven’s Second Concerto, more a connoisseur’s piece than a crowd pleaser.
Tall and rail-thin, with wavy hair that keeps getting in his eyes, Mr. Fray has a boyish stage presence, but he is all maturity and musicianship at the piano. In the long orchestral exposition of the jovial first movement, Mr. Masur set a restrained tempo, drawing out the sometimes mellow cast and weightiness of the music.
When Mr. Fray began the impish introduction to the piano part, he seemed restless, as if he wanted to push the tempo a bit. But mostly this young talent and the elder master found common ground, delivering a thoughtful and stylish performance.
Mr. Fray’s playing was beautifully balanced: delicate yet incisive, clear-textured yet milky when that was called for. The Adagio was a model of serenity, with Mr. Fray spinning out Beethoven’s lyrical piano lines as if they were melodies from bel canto opera. And if the first movement was somewhat restrained, the finale was a buoyant and teasing yet always graceful romp.
Trotting out Dvorak’s “New World” Symphony for a major American tour hardly represents creative programming. But the orchestra musicians, with many noticeably young members, value Mr. Masur, now in his last season with them, for the depth he can impart in repertory staples. The performance, if sometimes a little loose and untidy, was insightful and distinguished.
Mr. Masur captured the brooding, turbulent elements of the first movement. As the strings set the mood for the soulful and familiar theme of the Largo, the sound had almost Wagnerian richness. In the scherzo Mr. Masur was more interested in projecting the music’s organic sweep than its driving energy. After the formidable account of the finale, the audience leapt to its feet. Mr. Masur, who is looking a little frail, was visibly moved.
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