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Conductor Andris Nelsons, pianist Helene Grimaud and the Boston Symphony Orchestra performing Brahms' 1st Piano Concerto at Symphony Hall in Boston on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016.
(Photo by Winslow Townson, courtesy of Boston Symphony Orchestra)
BOSTON - The music or the musicians?
What makes a great classical music concert?
You need to have captivating music for a memorable concert.
But you also need musicians performing at their peak for a transcendent performance.
Unfortunately, it's sometimes difficult for most concerts to combine both elements - compelling compositions and inspired performances.
On Saturday at Boston's Symphony Hall, pianist Helene Grimaud and the Boston Symphony Orchestra hit the bullseye. These amazing musicians gave a concert for the ages featuring Brahms and a new composition by Eric Nathan under the direction of conductor Andris Nelsons.
Maybe it was the music. Maybe it was their passionate performances. Maybe it's because this week's and next week's concerts featuring Brahms music are being recorded for potential release on the BSO's recording label, BSO Classics. Maybe it was because of some magical, mystical forces floating through the air of Symphony Hall. All I know is Saturday's concert ranks up there as one of the most memorable and pleasurable performances I have ever attended.
I have heard both Brahms pieces on Saturday's program performed several times. But what made Saturday's performance so special, so transcendent was the way Grimaud, Nelsons and the BSO seemed to make Brahms' music so new, so fresh, so alive. It was honestly as if I was hearing both works for the first time.
The second movement in particular in Brahms' 1st Piano Concerto, especially during the quieter passages played by Grimaud, gave me goosebumps.
Conductor Andris Nelsons, pianist Helene Grimaud and the Boston Symphony Orchestra take a bow after performing Brahms' 1st Piano Concerto at Symphony Hall in Boston on Saturday.
Equally impressive, Nathan's new work, "The Space of A Door," more than held its own and stood out as one of the best new classical compositions I have heard in years.
New classical compositions can sometimes be hit or miss. Some new music can be too experimental. Other times, some composers don't take enough risks.
Nathan's composition strikes just the right balance. Commissioned by the BSO and performed at the start of the program, this beautiful orchestral work seamlessly covered a wide range in a brief period of time. The string section in particular vividly brought Nathan's sustained notes and subtle rhythms to life.
Even the silences in Nathan's piece helped build towards a dramatic finish, which Nelsons made even more compelling by holding his hands in the air and letting the silence of the piece slowly settle in.
The same sense of drama permeated Brahms' two works.
I was frankly not that surprised by how great Grimaud and the BSO played Brahms' 1st Piano Concerto. This composition has long been one of the most beautiful and sublime pieces of music ever written.
Grimaud also has a reputation for being an inspiring performer of Brahms' concertos, especially his first one. In a recent interview I did with Grimaud, she talked about how Brahms' 1st Concerto grabs you "right from the beginning and doesn't let up."
"It's really something incredible," she said.
Grimaud has also collaborated in the past with Nelsons, including on a 2013 recording of Brahms' 1st and 2nd Piano Concertos with the Vienna Philharmonic.
Even so, I was not prepared for how subtle, how sublime Grimaud and the BSO sounded Saturday night.
The opening of the concerto inspired by Brahms' unrequited love for his friend's wife, Clara Schumann, really does grab you by the collar - kettle drums, soaring strings, soaring melodies. On Saturday, the BSO vividly captured the demonic and divine dimensions of Brahms' beautiful composition.
Pianist Helene Grimaud will perform several, Brahms concerts with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Boston's Symphony Hall through Nov. 19.
And as the orchestra played this passionate opening passage, Grimaud waited patiently with her hands on both legs, like someone quietly meditating on a mountain top. It was a telling gesture since Grimaud let her exquisite technique stand out throughout her performance. Unlike some performers, Grimaud didn't make any distracting physical movements that so often spoil so many other soloists' performances.
I will be honest. I often take notes throughout classical concerts when reviewing them. But I was so spellbound by Grimaud's playing I often just set down my notebook and listened in awe.
Often, some performers excel at playing the powerful passages or the quieter moments. Grimaud can do it all, whether it was her daring interpretation of first movement or her transcendent playing in the second movement.
I honestly cannot stress enough how mind blowing her performance of the second movement of the first concerto was Saturday night. Parts of the piece sound like a sonata within a concerto. It was during these sections in particular that Grimaud seemed to make time stop with her lighter-than-air interpretation of Brahms' music.
During the third movement, I found myself writing words like "joy" and "wow" to describe Grimaud's confident, decisive performance. All I kept thinking is, I can't wait to see Grimaud perform Brahms' 2nd Piano Concerto this coming week with the BSO.
The concerts are part of a mini Brahms festival being presented by Nelsons and the BSO. Along with performing Brahms' two piano concertos, the orchestra is performing all four Brahms' symphonies.
On Tuesday and Thursday this week, the BSO will perform Brahms' 3rd Symphony. On Friday and Saturday, they'll play his 4th Symphony. Grimaud and the BSO will perform Brahms' 2nd Piano Concerto all four nights.
This past Saturday, the BSO performed Brahms' 2nd Symphony.
As I wrote earlier this review, I have heard the 2nd Symphony several times before. I have always appreciated the lush melodies in this symphony written around the time Brahms wrote his 2nd Piano Concerto. Both were written in the 1870s when he was in his 40s.
I should add that I heard Brahms' 2nd Symphony performed less than a month ago. But I was truly amazed by how different and dramatic this magnificent music sounded Saturday night. The BSO's brisk pacing and upbeat tempo throughout the symphony sounded truly inspiring.
Sometimes, this symphony can drag a little in places, especially in the second movement. Not on Saturday! I'm sorry to keep going on and on like sometime teenager gushing about some the newest pop band single, but the orchestra sounded so spectacular yesterday, it's hard to be objective about such a spectacular concert.
All I can say is it's night like these that make me feel fortunate to be alive.
The Boston Symphony Orchestra, conductor Andris Nelsons and pianist Helene Grimaud perform Brahms' 2nd Piano Concerto and the World Premiere of Timo Andres' "Everything Happens So Much" on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. at Boston's Symphony Hall. The BSO will also perform Brahms' 3rd Symphony (Tuesday and Thursday) and 4th Symphony (Friday and Saturday). For more information or to order tickets, visit the BSO's website.