Review: 125 Years of Deutsche Grammophon
The Philadelphia Orchestra celebrated 125 years of Deutsche Grammophon last night at Verizon Hall of Kimmel Center. Yannick came out holding the Phil Orch’s Grammy, gave a speech, and paid homage to Deutsche Grammophon’s influence, relevance, and longevity. He primed the audience for a thoughtful-as-always program and spoke to the relationships with each of the soloists to the orchestra and to “the yellow label”. He spoke of his admiration for violinist María Dueñas, his long standing friendship with pianist Hélène Grimaud, and his excitement to welcome musician/vocalist Moby to the stage for something a little different.
I’m sure there’s a tired debate about orchestral versions of works originally written for a solo instrument, and I’ll happily insert myself into the argument and claim that the Rachmaninoff prelude in C Sharp Minor only belongs to the solo piano. There’s a lot to enjoy about the Stokowski arrangement- chilly vibrato strings, ominous low brass, and icy chimes to boot. But something in the rubato of this piece is hard to emulate for an orchestra, which isn’t a limitation of the solo piano. Since the orchestra’s rubato on the Tzigane was in lock step, I’m led to believe that the issue is not with the Phil Orch, rather, it’s something lost in the arrangement itself.
Rachmaninoff, in his own musical notes.
Florence Price’s music is an excellent fit not only for the Phil Orch but for the city of Philadelphia. “Adoration” has all the merits of a Mendelssohn Song Without Words– self indulgent for audience and orchestra alike. Price’s Adoration is like an Americanized version of this: bluesy, beautiful, and special. The city of Philadelphia holds freedom and American ideals in one hand, and all of its shortcomings in the other. As Philadelphia doesn’t hide from America’s past, the Philadelphia Orchestra doesn’t hide from classical music’s past. This orchestra has done a lot to explore and bring Price’s music to the forefront. If you see her music featured on a future concert, do yourself a favor and go.
Moving onto the first soloist of the night, María Dueñas was electric. Before hearing her I was concerned any performer would struggle to keep up with the Philadelphia orchestra, not that they aren't an intuitive collective, but they GO FAST. Fears dissipated immediately, and I began to wonder if the orchestra would keep up with her. I preferred the Tzigane over the “Caprice viennoise”, but the Kreisler was a beautiful mirror to Price’s Adoration.
Hélène Grimaud played the second and third movements of Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major. It was curious to me that the first movement was omitted, perhaps for duration purposes, but hey, we should normalize playing parts of works rather than works in their entirety. Lower those barriers to entry! But being unfamiliar with the Ravel, without the first movement I felt plucked and thrown into two very different worlds. I was a fairy dancing in an enchanted forest in the second movement. I was fighting Bowser and the Joker in a villain lounge in the third.
Moby’s humor and demeanor cut through the stuffiness a classical crowd inevitably brings. Over four selections he showcased his musicianship playing guitar, piano, and singing with the orchestra accompanying. He provided commentary in between the pieces and told the crowd that his teacher from 50 years ago was in the audience. While crossover music or minimalism isn’t my cup of tea, the intent of featuring Moby was great.
It may not have been the original programming, but a lot of the greater efforts of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Deutsche Grammophon came through when thinking of how to make classical music relevant for today and for the future.
