South Florida Classical Review

Andris Nelsons conducted the Vienna Philharmonic Sunday afternoon at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach. Photo: BSO

The Vienna Philharmonic opened a two-day stand of concerts Sunday in West Palm Beach, giving South Florida audiences an extended opportunity to hear one of the world’s most illustrious orchestras.

Leading the ensemble Sunday was Andris Nelsons, music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, who has been in the news this week, and not in a good way. The BSO announced Friday that Nelsons’ contract would not be renewed, a rejection that set off a debate over whether the action was deserved or not.

With that news in hand, Nelsons continued his tour with Vienna, playing Saturday in Naples, Florida, in his first concert since the news broke, and Sunday night at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach.

The orchestra, founded in 1842, has given the world premieres of works of Brahms, Bruckner, Mahler, and many others, and retains a reputation for playing at the highest level.

For this performance, the orchestra played two symphonies that have rarely been heard in South Florida: Mozart’s Symphony No. 36, known as the “Linz,”and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 6. In the case of both composers, their best-known symphonies are their last three, so it was a pleasure to hear these underperformed but high-quality works played by a first-rate ensemble.

Both composers had ties to Vienna, with Mozart making a mid-career move to the city and dying there in 1791.

For his symphony on Sunday, the orchestra was reduced in size. But the ensemble still brought a pretty large contingent of strings to the piece. While few string sections could play Mozart with such deftness and precision, the opening movement in particular felt violin-dominant, with the first violin section’s focused and assertive playing overpowering the contributions of the other instruments.

It was still a fine performance. Under Nelsons’ baton, the first movement opened with an Adagio that had the stately pomp of a Haydn symphony, and from there it took off in exultant high spirits, with the orchestra building to a climax in jubilant repeated notes.

The opening of the Andante was marred by the noisy arrival of several latecomers, some of whom appeared to think it was okay to engage in conversations as they took their seats. Nelsons turned to look, but the orchestra soldiered on, with strings and winds giving a sweet-toned account of the opening melody. Clarity and precision may be values most often associated with rapid passages. But here, in tiny pauses, the shaping of phrases, the way one phrase answered another, the orchestra’s unity and control created the impression of a courtly and deeply felt dance.

The Menuetto was notable for the playing in the Trio of the oboe and bassoon, distinctive in tone and elegantly phrased. Nelsons just let the musicians play during some of these wind passages, barely indicating time with his conducting.

The concluding Presto opened with a sense of quiet expectation, with a highlight emerging in the minor-key episode that came off with intensely focused playing that emphasized the contrapuntal clashes in the music.

Dvořák never lived in Vienna. But his Symphony No. 6 had been scheduled to receive its world premiere from the Vienna Philharmonic, an event that was canceled by the orchestra, leaving the work to debut in Prague in 1881. Still, the Czech composer dedicated the work to Hans Richter, the Vienna Philharmonic’s conductor.

Enough cannot be said about this orchestra’s wind section, with its distinctive tone—created partly by the particular versions of instruments required by the orchestra—and by playing that sounds like the production of a corps of soloists. This was evident throughout the symphony’s opening Allegro, where the quality of the wind playing went far in creating the airy, relaxed, almost Schubertian tone of the performance.

The hushed opening of the Adagio was captivating, with winds, particularly the oboe, flavoring the melody carried by the violins. The dramatic middle section, with its pounding timpani and bellowing horns, came off with grandeur and surprising clarity for such heavily orchestrated music.

The opening of the Scherzo seemed too refined, particularly for a ferocious melody based on a Czech dance called the furiant. Later iterations arrived with more power, with Nelsons leading an exciting crescendo into the second arrival of the melody/ Even so  the playing still felt too civilized, without the wild quality implied by the dance’s name.

The Finale was full of big fortissimo passages that achieved the balance, precision and sheer sonic grandeur that eludes other ensembles, with Nelsons’ balancing allowing the top notes of the violins, winds or brass to knife cleanly through surrounding sound to carry the melody.

The Vienna Philharmonic performs again 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Kravis Center, playing Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 and Bartók Piano Concerto No. 3 with soloist Lang Lang. kravis.org

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