South Florida Classical Review

Edward Gardner conducted the New World Symphony Saturday  night in Miami Beach.

British conductor Edward Gardner exudes uninhibited energy on the podium. That unflagging pulse radiates in every bar of the music he leads. Conducting the New World Symphony’s final program of the season Saturday night at the New World Center, Gardner delivered a broadly scaled, expressive reading of Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra. Principal conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Norwegian Opera and Ballet, Gardner is clearly a formidable orchestral technician.

Written in 1943 when the composer was dying from leukemia, Bartók’s score is often rendered purely as an orchestral showpiece and it can succeed on those terms. Gardner’s performance offered considerably more. He astutely balanced the music’s glittering profile with underlying nostalgic pathos. 

From the first bars of the slow introduction, it was obvious that this was not going to be a routine read-through of this 20th century masterpiece. The usually muffled timpani part was clearly audible, an ominous rumble beneath the short brass motifs. The five horns were unified, balanced and sonorous. Gardner seasoned the brusque theme of the Allegro section with a dose of Hungarian paprika. Crucial trombone, clarinet and oboe solos emerged strong and well defined. The clipped rhythmic pattern of the Allegro scherzando (second movement) was given an extra shot of momentum.

Gardner cut to the heart of the Bartókian night music in the Elegia, by turns eerie, desolate, even cataclysmic, which Gardner assayed with special clarity. The New World fellows excelled in Bartók’s demanding orchestral writing, with the burnished tonal glow of the violas particularly outstanding. A fast tempo in the Intermezzo avoided exaggerated sentimentality in the secondary theme, while the rapid section resounded in robust fashion. The brass burps had the proper witty contrast. 

All of which was merely a prelude to the Presto finale with Gardner ramping up the excitement by several notches. The brass registered solid impact and the entire ensemble proved fully equal to the challenges and intricacies of Bartók’s soundscape. Individual instrumental and sectional details in the fugal passages were clean and transparent, aided by the New World Center’s clarifying acoustic. Gardner had the players firing on all cylinders in the coda, concluding a stellar performance of a singular orchestral creation.

For many decades, Dvořák’s Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 53, was a rarity on concert programs. Perhaps this was because it is one of the few concertos for the instrument that does not have a solo cadenza. In recent times, many leading violinists have added the work to their repertoire and for good reason. The score is chock full of the kind of Czech melodies that defined its composer and there is ample opportunity for solo pyrotechnical display. 

Gil Shaham has recently championed the work and he gave a stellar performance Saturday night with Gardner a consummate collaborator. In nearly four decades on the world’s concert stages, Shaham’s technique is not only intact but stronger and more secure than ever. His tone can soar but, seasoned with gutsy Magyar overtones, it can sizzle with brusque fire. He brought all of that to Dvořák’s canvass. 

In the Adagio ma non troppo, Shaham turned phrases in an unbroken line, capturing the songful sentimentality of Dvořák’s lyrical music. He brought a light, brisk touch to the main furiant theme of the finale, adding hefty rubato in the central dumka section. Throughout the concerto, Shaham and Gardner seemed to breathe the music together. Garner fully brought forth the Czech spirit and color of Dvořák’s orchestration.

A standing ovation brough Shaham back for a pastiche encore. Telling the audience that his Dvořák performance was  delayed by the Covid pandemic and lockdown, Shaham offered an Isolation Tango. Mixing tuneful tango and jazz melodies with quotes from Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, Shaham gave the same artistry to this novel vignette that he brings to pillars of the instrumental literature. He seemed to be enjoying tossing off this cameo as much as the audience.

Conducting fellow Molly Turner opened the program with Song of the Enchanter by British composer Thea Musgrave. Conceived in 1990 as a tribute to the 125^th anniversary of the birth of Jean Sibelius, Musgrave’s six-minute piece is based on an episode in the Finnish epic The Kalevala (on which Sibelius based some of his tone poems). With harp strokes audible over whirling winds and serene strings, there is more than a suggestion of impressionism. Aleatoric or chance elements are blended into the shimmering coloration. Turner has shown a real affinity for complex contemporary scores during her two seasons with the ensemble. In her final appearance, she led a finely textured performance that fully realized Musgrave’s deft soundscape.

Prior to leading the Bartók work, Gardner told the audience that working with the New World fellows was inspirational and that, although an orchestral academy, their playing was totally professional. Indeed, the level of players now in the orchestra is outstanding. Collectively, throughout the season, their performance level has been consistently high, regardless of the strengths or weaknesses of the conductor on the podium. All of which bodes well for the Miami Beach academy as well as the future of symphonic music making.

The New World Symphony repeats the program 2 p.m. Sunday at the New World Center in Miami Beach. nws.edu

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