Creative staging makes for fresh Mozart, Bartók with Fischer and Philharmonic
This season at the New York Philharmonic the figure at the podium has changed regularly, but the orchestra has not. With the variety of guest conductors passing through David Geffen Hall, the consistent excellence of the orchestra’s playing has been impressive.
While the playing didn’t change Friday night, the layout of the orchestra did, with this week’s conductor, Iván Fischer, reseating the ensemble. This may not seem like a big deal, but it can make for enormous changes in the sound. Playing Mozart and Bartók, the stage retooling did just that, and it was wonderful to hear.
Fischer went for an old school alignment, with the first and second violins flanking the podium, and cellos and violas up the middle. The bass section was also in the middle, but on risers behind and above the woodwinds. That produced a new richness to the sound and a new quality in antiphonal passages, like the canonic development in the concert opener, the Overture to Die Zauberflöte.
The conductor’s slow tempo and deliberate pauses in the overture’s fanfare opening were on the edge of troublesome, like the slightest miscalculation would tip the music over into mannerism. But the uptempo music made the effective contrast, as did having the violins on opposite sides. Hearing music in canon across sections shown so clearly is an under-appreciated pleasure, and with the weight of the low strings so prominent, this was a terrific and enjoyable performance.
Lisa Batiashvili was the soloist for Mozart’s “Turkish” Violin Concerto No. 5. Pure sound was again to the fore, from both orchestra and violinist. Batiashvili’s sound is exquisite, one of the more beautiful violin tones one has heard recently. She played the concerto, even in the rapid passages of the first and third movements, with such a relaxed feeling that it felt like her tempo was appreciably slower than that of the orchestra’s, even as she was right in sync with them.
That made for a singing interpretation, every thought focused on the beauty of sound and the elegant shape of each line. Silvery, full, not overly bright, this was such a definitive performance from Batiashvili, with alert, energetic accompaniment from the orchestra, that it felt like one was hearing this piece for the first time.
The only things not up to that overall level were the cadenzas. Mozart didn’t write any for this concerto, so Batiashvili brought the first from a talented young composer at her foundation, which was full of interesting ideas but totally incoherent. Her own cadenza to the second movement fit the music better but felt like a placeholder to get to more stellar Mozart playing in the finale.
After intermission was a welcome chance to hear Bartók’s music to the ballet The Wooden Prince. This is an extremely colorful score, Bartok following the example of Stravinsky’s Firebird with his own nature-based fairy tale narrative. The string placement again paid dividends, bringing out key details in Bartók’s tremendous orchestration and backlighting the haunting woodwind passages with the sound of the basses.
The playing was expert and committed, full of force and detail, and the experience was enhanced by the wise decision, which Fischer announced, to use the screen above the orchestra usually reserved for supertitles to display the libretto as the music went along, matching music and mood to narrative. A superb night of music and creative presentation all around.
This program repeats 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. nyphil.org
One Response to “Creative staging makes for fresh Mozart, Bartók with Fischer and Philharmonic”
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Posted Apr 27, 2025 at 8:18 am by DorothyT
A woodwind musician RAVED about the new staging after last night’s performance. Thanks for commenting on what you observed about the quality of the music thanks to the new staging,