This weekend, the SSO opened its season with a rousing concert.
After the Overture to Mozart's Idomeneo, we heard Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64, beautifully performed by David Chan, concertmaster of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. I do like the concerto too for the fact that there is no break between the movements, the music simply flows, and as Mr. Chan said during the pre-concert talk, this is not a work written for the virtuoso, but rather for the music itself.
After intermission, we had Beethoven's Third Symphony, the Eroica, a tour de force, both in composition and today's performance, which got well deserved, sustained applause. In his pre-concert talk, "Behind the Baton," Eckart Preu did his best to debunk the entrenched story that the the symphony was originally dedicated to Napoleon and the dedication and title later changed, as political events changed. He sounded convincing, but I do think the jury is still out, though I have to agree that the story as told, 10 years after Beethoven's death, is a bit fishy. As to "Eroica" itself, one sometimes has to look for the "heroic" : as in all of Beethoven's symphonies, the light alternates with the dark, Eckart said. I always enjoy "funeral marches," be it Beethoven, or Mahler, or others, they are often not what one expects.
Images courtesy Wikimedia Commons
The pre-concert talks are always entertaining and informative, with the maestro tam-tamming (if that is the right word) score illustrations, and today we also heard about the at Mozart's time famous Mannheim Orchestra.
Googling Mr. Chan, I discovered that he is a wine lover, a man after my own heart:
New York Times Travel
David Chan: A concertmaster whose other passion is wine
By Eric Asimov
Published: November 19, 2008
For music and for wine, David Chan says, language has its limitations. He should know. Chan is a concertmaster of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the position traditionally held by the leader of the violin section, and he is also a wine lover and Burgundy fanatic. He is a Harvard graduate who was named concertmaster in 2000, at the ripe old age of 27, and he sees a crucial similarity between his twin passions. read on
