Chances are if you ever heard Carl Nielsen's Violin Concerto (Opus 22,
1911), it was on a recording - except if you live in Denmark or somewhere
near where Herbert Blomstedt hangs out.
San Francisco has been Blomstedt territory for a long time now, so it's not
surprising that when he brought the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig to
Davies Hall tonight, the Nielsen was on the program. What was surprising is
what a fine, intricate, entertaining work this is - even though not in the
same category with its closest contemporary, Nielsen's mighty Third
Symphony. Even more than surprising, happily so, was the San Francisco debut
of the soloist, Nikolaj Znaider.

Mark the name well. This is not your typical Polish-Israeli 26-year-old from
Denmark, studying in Vienna and at Juilliard.

Znaider, all 6'5" of him - the height making his 1736 Guarneri look like a
toy violin - is truly special, with technical brilliance to burn, power and
warmth, not a fiddle player at all, but a singer using the instrument to
make music. Znaider is a violinist who looms over his many young colleagues
in this new golden age of violinists, an artist who made the grand old (a
quarter millennium!) orchestra collectively beam at him, always-supportive
but seldom demonstrative Blomstedt applaud, hug and kiss as a true fan,
and - this was no act - a decent young man who virtually refused three long
rounds of ovation, begging Blomstedt and the orchestra to share in the
impromptu love feast. (If you think that stage behavior by a youngster is
not important, you might have missed - no great loss - Alisa Weilerstein and
her physical and musical solo act.)

Discovering Znaider may in fact be more important than the chance of hearing
the Nielsen live. Even in this setting, with Znaider, Blomstedt (the supreme
Nielsen guru) conducting one of the finest orchestras in the world, what
remains with the listener is the performance, not the work. The contrast
with the "Espansiva" is particularly significant in looking for depth and
musical relevance - the symphony is a lasting masterpiece, the concerto is a
fine novelty item.

Gewandhaus and Blomstedt are good for each other. During the decade of
"living with" the conductor here, I always respected, seldom responded
emotionally to his music-making. But hearing him conducting the Leipzig
band - in the Nielsen and, especially, the smooth-as-silk, broadly singing
Brahms Fourth Symphony - there was a wonderful sense of rightness I seldom
experienced at his SFS concerts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Janos Gereben/SF
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