Orchestra Demonstrates Why Tchaikovsky Loved

Spokane Symphony Orchestra Friday, March 27, Opera House

Russian governments rise and fall, but Tchaikovsky reigns. The Spokane Symphony showed just why this composer has such a hold on the musical public with an all-Tchaikovsky concert Friday at the Opera House.

For those who crave the bombast of Tchaikovsky’s Russian fervor, conductor Fabio Mechetti began the program with an powerful performance of “Marche Slav,” one of the great war horses in the Tchaikovsky stable. War horses are hard animals to handle, but Mechetti controlled “Marche Slav” beautifully, leading it from its quietly ominous opening to its noisily triumphant conclusion.

There is some irony in the popularity of this work considering today’s situation in the Balkans. Tchaikovsky wrote it to commemorate the dead in a 19th-century conflict in Serbia in which Russia intervened. In fact, the half dozen or so tunes in the piece that Mechetti and the orchestra shaped so expressively are all Serbian folk songs except for the Czarist Hymn at the climax.

Not everybody basks in Tchaikovsky’s bombastic side. Those who prefer fastidiousness and grace found great satisfaction in cellist Gustav Rivinius’ performance of the Variations on a Rococo Theme, a work that reminds us that Tchaikovsky’s favorite composer was Mozart. Rivinius has the kind of technical assurance that doesn’t allow for accidents in those showers of notes in the fast variations or in the mercilessly exposed unaccompanied solo cadenza. But he can also sing so eloquently on his instrument that the two slow variations seemed to soar out of a Tchaikovsky opera.

Rivinius last appeared in Spokane shortly after he won the gold medal in the 1990 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, carrying away a special award for best performance of a work by Tchaikovsky. His performance Friday left no doubt why he received that extra prize.

The big work on Friday’s program was the “Manfred” Symphony. It is big in every way - employing a huge orchestra, sprawling over 300 densely packed pages of score, and lasting just short of an hour. (Though the word “short” seems grossly inappropriate in any connection with this work!)

This symphony, actually a series of four symphonic poems, depicts episodes from Byron’s long poetic drama concerning Manfred, a Faustian character tortured by having been the lover of his own sister, Astarte, his anguished wandering in the Alps, his attempt at suicide, his visit to a hellish bacchanal and his final redemption and death.

Mechetti and the orchestra produced an outstanding performance. Not only did it show Mechetti’s usual control and his grasp of the work’s larger-than-life form, but there were many passages of exceptional solo playing in the winds. The sound of the orchestra was wonderfully vivid.

There were lapses, too, such as the uncoordinated violin pizzicatos at the end of the scherzo. But these flaws, and a few others like them, seemed minor in the overall Byronic spectacle. The evening’s performances showed the scope of Tchaikovsky’s musical strength and authority and the reason why audiences love - not just admire or respect - Tchaikovsky’s music.

, DataTimes