In-between readings of cold excellence in Mozart's Symphony No. 31 and
Debussy's "La Mer," David Roberston found his match tonight, with Viktoria
Mullova as the soloist in the Stravinsky Violin Concerto.  Santa Monica's
gift to France (formerly in Paris and now in Lyon), Robertson is the
brilliantly heartless Tin Man of music, with superb control and precision. . .
and incongruous excursions to opera, setting one's teeth on edge with what
he mistakes for a score written by Verdi.

True, it was not Robertson's excruciating "Rigoletto" (heard across the
street, in the War Memorial a long but still unforgiven time ago) that was
on the program in Davies Hall tonight, but George Balanchine and I happen
to believe that the Stravinsky has some romantic passages, right up there
with Verdi at his most passionate.  Not tonight.

The man is brave and his work on behalf of contemporary music is obviously
important, but he shares something with a large segment of "modern music"
- he does not connect.  And yet, working with a San Francisco Symphony
missing almost all of its principal and associate principal players (third
chairs moving up to the front), Robertson got impeccable playing from the
orchestra.  Unlike his work in opera, that lack of communicated passion is
not obvious in symphonic works - and yet you can hear it.  In the unusual
combination tonight of a three-movement symphony and a four-movement
concerto, the notes were all there, properly played, and with a consistency
of tempo and balance that would speak well of any conductor.

Precision, intonation, balance, technical excellence - they all applied to
Mullova as well, the London violinist and frequent visitor to San Francisco
playing impressively as ever.  The problem was exactly the same as for
Robertson:  portrait of the musician as a cold fish.  Although she is
trying the Kennedy image in dress (red tunic over black pants and boots,
with a bizarrely-cut red coat), Mullova falls way short of the Kennedy
commitment and passion; technically, she is a fair match for the former
Nigel or anyone.

As long as Robertson stays away from the Opera House (and doesn't spend
more time speaking about a work than it takes to play it - as he did in the
case of Vivier's "Siddhartha"), he is welcome back here for to flaunt his
rare, peculiar and frustrating musical abilities.

Janos Gereben/SF, CA
[log in to unmask]