Thibaudet/Bychkov at the Symphony
We were psyched to see our fellow French man, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, at the symphony last night. He was amazing all right, but guest conductor Semyon Bychkov stole the show, by masterfully conducting an eclectic program at Davies Symphony last night (performance will repeat tonight through Sunday): a modern piece by a living composer, an as-romantic-as-it-gets piano concerto with a prodigious Thibaudet as the soloist and a Shostakovic symphony to celebrate the composer’s 100th anniversary. All three pieces displayed his skills at the baton, and the orchestra at its best.
Bychkov opened with Last Round, a two movement piece by Osvaldo Golijov, a 45yo Argentinian composer who now lives in Massachussetts, the first time this piece was played in San Francisco. The piece is an entertaining homage to the tango master Astor Piazzolla: the first movement is a tango. To Golijov, it is a boxing fight, since it features two quartet on each side of the conductor exchanging simple yet punchy melodic lines on a tango beat, with the occasional support of the rest of the string-only orchestra (a crowd cheering the fighters, we assume) and a referee role for the double bass of Larry Epstein. As in a traditional tango orchestra, the musicians were standing up, proving to us that music will keep you trim and fit. Larry and his bass were sitting on a stool, a fitting role reversal since he could stand up for a deserved salute at the end. More than a boxing fight, the piece evoked a sonic tennis match, with the sound regularly alternating between starboard and port. The pings and pongs thus exchanged were compact little melodic motifs, variation upon a simple theme, with an ever evolving orchestration and always shifting textures.
The second movement is a plaintive melancholy, Epstein anchoring everyone with a deep ostinato, and the strings playing a part that our companion, SFist editor-at-large Rita, dubbed ‘Copland’s Rodeo on the Pampa’, aka. “Argentinian beef, that’s what’s for dinner.” Bychkov switched the mood efficiently, taking the orchestra effortlessly from the abrupt interjections of part one, to the fluidity of part two. Golijov’s is a times slightly corny (Last Round ends on a silly chromatic resolution from the bass, which is repeated twice, as though it was a good idea), but overall it sustains the interest of the listener.
Jean-Yves Thibaudet sprung on stage, and Rita, wearing her SF political chronicler hat, was heard muttering: his hair is just like Gavin’s. Gelled and combed backwards, indeed, but unlike the mayor, Jean-Yves had gold highlights. While we’re not talking about the music, let’s add that Bychkov was wearing a sleaveless neru jacket. It was not as extreme as some of the dress choices of his wife Marielle Labeque, but we totally pictured Allen Iverson wearing it to both play hoops and meet the NBA bench dress code in one fell swoop.
Saint-Saëns 2nd piano concerto is all about scaling up and down the keyboard, and Thibaudet dazzled with not only his technical agility, but his delicate tone in even the most hair-raising moments. We wished we could applaud at the end of the piano solo overture, like we do at the opera after a beautiful aria. But Bychkov deserves credit for always meeting Thibaudet on the beat at the top of one of these neck breaking runs up the keys, with a crisp, perfectly timed chord from the orchestra. When great performers such as Thibaudet play, they sometimes take some freedom with the conductor, stretching their cadences and imposing their will on the beat. Not last night, where Bychkov and Thibaudet were almost symbiotically connected.
The second half of the concert was focused on Shostakovich 10th symphony, a work which felt slightly tedious compared to the lightness of the first part. It’s no knock on Bychkov or the orchestra: the opening moderato is just a long slow meandering piece which would euthanize most audiences under any intrerpretive tack. The next movement is misnamed as Allegro, it should be Defibrillato, as the brass section gave us the jolt needed to carry on in a short, funky movement. Bychkov likes his brasses slightly less strident, less contrasting with the rest of the orchestra than MTT, which is fine by us.
The symphony features the woodwinds intensively, and Luis Baez at the clarinet, and we believe Stephen Paulson at the bassoon, deserve to be singled out for their contribution.