South Florida Classical Review

Anne-Marie McDermott performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Palm Beach Symphony Tuesday night.

Symphony orchestras have been justly criticized for excessive reliance on music from the 19th century.

For its second-to-last concert of the season, the Palm Beach Symphony hopscotched over that century entirely in a concert that included an early Beethoven concerto, two pillars of French impressionism and a 20th-century American work. 

The highlight was a performance by the American pianist Anne-Marie McDermott of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 1. Although this 1795 work was actually the second one to be written by the young composer, it was the first to be published, and it’s still well within the time-frame considered to be Beethoven’s early period. 

For all the ink spilled about Beethoven’s three compositional periods and the breakthrough to his heroic “middle period” with the Eroica Symphony, the First Piano Concerto contains a lot that would be characteristic of the mature Beethoven in its drama, mystery and originality. McDermott performed the work in a vigorous manner, one that looked forward to the great 19th century concertos rather than backward to the ones composed for the more delicate fortepianos of the 18th century.

Particularly striking in her performance of the opening Allegro were the darker passages that emerged amid all the major-key Classical brightness—a quiet moment of introspection in which the beat seemed to melt away, somber descending minor-key scales and ominous pianissimo dissonances. In the succeeding Largo, she played the long melodies with just enough rhythmic freedom to bring out their aching tension and emotional warmth. The concluding Rondo came off with bright, rollicking energy, with increased intensity and momentum in the darker middle theme.

Throughout the performance, the orchestra conducted by Gerard Schwarz gave a taut account of the richly symphonic accompaniment. 

McDermott, whose recording of Bach’s English Suites had been named an Editor’s Choice by Gramophone magazine, played, as an encore, an incisive and propulsive account of the Prelude from the English Suite No. 2.

The concert opened with Threnody: In Memory of Jean Sibelius by the American composer William Grant Still, who lived from 1895 to 1978 and felt some ambivalence toward his role as the nation’s most prominent black classical composer. Commissioned for the University of Miami Symphony Orchestra, the work received its world premiere in 1965 in Miami. With its stark brass passages and sleek string writing, the work contains passages reminiscent of Sibelius, with some American turns of phrase in its melodies. The work received a warm, full-bodied performance by the orchestra.

The second half of the concert was devoted to two of the most important works of French impressionism. 

Debussy’s La Mer, his three-movement portrait of the sea, came off as smoother, less starkly violent than many performances. With textures that ranged from translucent to sumptuous, the first movement surged and receded, with the orchestra giving a particularly dramatic account of the first section’s ominous, pianissimo stasis that led up to the brassy conclusion. The last section was stormy, but with a light touch that allowed for more transparent textures than in many performances.

Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2 is the work of one of classical music’s master orchestrators, and for the most part, the Palm Beach Symphony gave a worthy account At times the strings could have provided greater richness, yet the playing was atmospheric, with a theatrical pacing that suited its origins as a ballet. 

From its rapid opening notes, intended to portray sunrise, the piece is a real workout for the wind section, and the orchestra’s musicians did a fine job with it. Particularly effective was the long flute solo, which in the ballet represents Daphnis’s flute-playing to woo Chloé and accompany her increasingly wild dancing. Performing the flute solo was Nadin Asin, a former member of the elite orchestra of New York’s Metropolitan Opera, who gave a warm and sensuous account, with display of virtuosity in the rapid passages that evoke Chloé’s frenzied dancing.

The Palm Beach Symphony’s next concert will take place 7:30 p.m. May 19 at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach. The program includes Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 and Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with soloist Kevin Kenner. palmbeachsymphony.org

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