The Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Andrew Constantine, presented music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Hector Berlioz in a Masterworks Series concert at the Purdue Fort Wayne Music Center on Saturday.
Mozart composed his twenty-first piano concerto, Kochel No. 467, which is primarily in C major, in 1785. The three-movement work is one of Mozart’s most joyous compositions. The performance of the concerto featured Russian-born pianist Ziata Chochieva. A true prodigy, she began playing at the age of four and made her concert debut in Moscow in 1993, at the age of eight. Her career has taken her throughout Europe, the United States, and South Africa.
Chochieva used cadenzas (solos) written by the Italian composer and pianist Ferruccio Busoni. She played a Steinway concert grand piano. She wore a fancy, lacy white blouse and a long, full, dark skirt.
The concerto begins with a march-like theme that was played with dignity and grace by the orchestra. There were “chattering” woodwinds with the brass and timpani providing extra color to the strong string performances. It is actually a delicate precise movement. Chochieva joined the orchestra with showy and intricate playing that included trills, arpeggios, and other impressive features. The main cadenza, by Busoni, offered a contrast to Mozart’s music while referring to the main theme. It was very showy and challenging as well as more complex than what Mozart wrote.
In the second movement, the strings dominate the initial statement of Mozart’s famous lyrical tune. There is a certain sadness in the music, which was played with sensitivity and dignity. The piano joins the orchestra. There is some cross-hand playing by the pianist. The intensity grows and becomes challenging for the pianist. This is one of the most sublime pieces Mozart wrote and it requires true musicianship to present it effectively. Chochieva was excellent in playing this memorable music.
The third movement is very energetic and jubilant. The piano quickly joins the orchestra with really dazzling playing. At times there was an impressive dialogue between the piano and the orchestra. The effect of the collaboration was quite upbeat and delightful. The final cadenza was darker and more modern than Mozart’s music; once again, Busoni’s music was played brilliantly. The concerto was given a great standing ovation.
The French composer and conductor Hector Berlioz was one of the most innovative composers during the first half of the nineteenth century. In 1830, when Berlioz was 27 years old, he composed an astonishing five-movement programmatic symphony about a musician who suffers from unrequited love and then takes opium, resulting in a series of fantastic dreams involving the young woman. Berlioz was inspired to write this music because he was infatuated with a beautiful Irish actress named Harriet Smithson, who he saw in a production of William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” in Paris.
Berlioz wrote his “Symphonie fantastique” or “Fantastic Symphony” just three years after the death of Beethoven. Although the symphony’s structure was inspired by Beethoven, the actual music is unlike anything the German composer ever wrote and it was actually revolutionary for its time. Berlioz uses a recurring musical theme, which was called an “idee fixe,” to represent the woman the artist loves.
The symphony begins quiet and slow, using a tune Berlioz had actually written when he was 12 years old. The strings played alone at first and there was a nice “stereophonic” effect between the first and second violins. The music was played with finesse and beauty. Gradually, the music builds, becoming animated and intense. The idee fixe, Berlioz’s recurring theme, is first played by the first violins. Constantine was really involved in this music, offering strong guidance and impression as he coaxed the musicians through this challenging movement. The strings were quite impressive with some breathtaking playing.
The second movement is an enchanting and wonderful waltz with lyrical strings and two harps. Constantine ensured that there was charm in this music. The winds play the idee fixe in a more graceful manner. The intensity of the dancing builds to a dazzling level. This was a delightful performance.
The third movement shifts to a poignant, pastoral setting as Berlioz depicts shepherds in the country calling to each other. He begins with a remarkably subdued passage that includes accompaniment by the violas, following the first violins, then the second violins, then the cellos, and finally the double basses. This was played with sensitivity and feeling. There is a “searching” passage as if the musician is looking for his beloved. We then hear the idee fixe in a subdue and elusive manner. Once again, there is greater intensity and then the music diminishes and becomes lyrical and sweet. The tranquility is interrupted by six thunder rolls, which are played by the timpani.
The fourth movement is the first of the bizarre movements as we have a slow, dark march to the scaffold. There are strong drum rolls. This is the beginning of some strange and ominous music with snarling brass. This was very showy and spectacular with impressive brass playing. For the first time in the symphony Berlioz uses cymbals for dramatic effects. Then there is the playing of the idee fixe, followed by the final drum roll as the musician is executed.
The fifth and final movement depicts a witches sabbath, in which the beloved is a participant. It is mysterious and ominous, featuring some of the strangest music that had been written up to that time (1830). The idee fixe is basically burlesqued. The movement becomes increasingly strange. This was brilliantly played by the Philharmonic musicians. Then there is the tolling of the bells, leading to Berlioz’s use of the ancient chant “Dies Irae.” The chant is initially played by a solo tuba and then other brass instruments join him. There is also imaginative use of the strings; in this performance they were dazzling. The movement builds to a crazy level. Leonard Bernstein said that Berlioz depicted a variety of evil creatures through imaginative use of the orchestra. The music is really frightening, leading to the climax that features amazing use of the trombones. Again, there was a tremendous standing ovation as the concert ended.