Opening of Dvořák’s Prague: Munich Philharmonic at home
A festival tradition Dvořák’s Prague established the dramaturgy of the opening concert for the performance of two key Dvořák symphonic works: Cello Concerto in B minor AND Symphony No. 9 Novosvětská. The question arose again, how a foreign orchestra and a soloist would cope on Czech soil with the performance of two such iconic works. I am somewhat reluctant to emphasize the term foreign orchestra. The musicians took the stage and showed with a smile right from the start that they felt at home among friends and that it was nice for me to return to Prague. Even the conductor and soloist entered the mood easily.
From the interpretation experience of all the protagonists, which they demonstrated in their performances, it can be concluded that they could compete with the domestic scene with their knowledge of the concept of these “national compositions”. The highest quality component of the Munich orchestra is the woodwind and brass sections, which play their harmony with a feeling for a balanced sound and respond very sensitively even to the preferences of the voices specified in the score. At this concert, the first flutist really shined with his solos.
Strict Myung-Whun Chung he led the orchestra into intense, expressively readable positions and the orchestra responded sensitively to his gestures. This South Korean conductor certainly does not make the work of the ensemble any easier, the richness of the agogic changes he demands from the orchestra often reaches the limits of the capabilities of an experienced orchestra. This turned out to be a great contribution to the performance of the cello concerto, which the soloist Pablo Farrandez he enriched it with a number of agogic ideas and a firm, supporting tone. His Dvořák is extroverted, but he does not slip into superficiality, in the second movement his expression sinks to a muted immersion in his own interior. The performance of the composition confirmed me again in the finding that the introduction of the quotation of the author’s song May my spirit alone (that Four Songs, Op. 82) also works in the composition for structural reasons (that is, not only as a reverent memory of the deceased Josefina Kounicová, Dvořák’s love from his youth), because it communicates a motivic affinity with the main theme of the composition’s first movement. The monitored mechanism resulted primarily from the well-thought-out temporary construction of the unit.
Another highlight of the concert was the first movement of New World. In it, the conductor captured the detailed content of individual phrases many times in his conception, so it was not just a presentation of an extraordinary composition, but also a parade of changing moods, regardless of whether a couplet or a theme is being played. The discovery for me was the agogic solution of the secondary theme in G major, which in its development acquired even a Rococo subtext. The conductor left the execution of the instrumental solos to a high degree to the creativity of the individual players – the technically and technically above-standard Munich residents, enriched the course of the composition with interiority and variety of content (this was very effectively manifested in Largo).
The packed Rudolfinum forced an encore with applause at the end, which does not happen often at orchestral concerts. Overall, it might seem that in the spirit of the festival’s traditions, the concert did not deviate from the beaten track, and that such dramaturgically ordinary concerts would not even have to be described in detail in the media. However, in the atmosphere of soul-fellowship that surrounded me from the side, I realized the importance of all concerts, which repeat hits after a thousand plays. There is a message that you will receive in music with the greatest intensity only here: Everything matters. After multiple listening experiences, even a less knowledgeable listener can recognize where something doesn’t work, or conversely, which component is sanctified by the inventor’s invention. And that everything matters can be seen at every step around us. The opening concert of Dvořák’s Prague sent the imperative very prominently stated.
The opening concert of the Dvořák Prague festival
September 8, 2022, 8:00 p.m
Rudolfinum, Dvořák Hall
Program:
Antonín Dvořák: Concerto for cello and orchestra in B minor, Op. 104, B. 191
Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, B. 178, “From the New World”
Performers:
Munich Philharmonic
Myung-Whun Chung – conductor
Pablo Ferrández – cello