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Date: | Tue, 11 Apr 2000 00:41:32 -0700 |
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There was dutiful Mozart (the Violin Concerto No. 2), the obligatory
Tchaikovsky ("Souvenir de Florence"), but what made tonight's return visit
of the Moscow Virtuosi to Davies Hall special was one of Alfred Harrievich
Schnittke's greatest small-scale works, a stirring masterpiece.
Led by and featuring Vladimir Spivakov (who has aged 10 years in the past
two, turning gray and suddenly looking like an elderly Slavic matinee
idol), Schnittke's 1968 Sonata for Violin and Orchestra received a wondrous
performance. (This is Sonata No. 1; there is another one from a later
period.)
Technically Spivakov is at his formidable peak, but the oomph was missing
until he came alive mastering the fiendishly difficult Schnittke. Alive
was the word all around: musicians smiling and even laughing out loud at
the work's impossible rhythmic tricks, comedy interspersed with suspense,
moving moments of quiet meditation, shades of and quotes from Shostakovich,
then original, vibrant, again: *alive* music.
Of course, it took a few decades to give Schnittke his due (and still not
entirely appreciated by the majority Russian audience in the full house,
some popping flashlights *during* the performance), so it may require
another "decent interval" before the all-male orchestra is integrated with
some women virtuoso players -- apparently not available just yet in the
small town of Moscow.
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