Pulcinella
Evening Music | May 6, 2010
Pulcinella, a wacky character if ever there was one—straight out of commedia dell’arte — is the Neapolitan ne’er-do-well hero of a Diaghilev ballet for which Stravinsky wrote the music.
The complete ballet, "Pulcinella," featured three singers as well as dancers and orchestra, but Stravinsky later wrote a shorter orchestral suite, which is what Yuri Temirkanov and the Royal Philharmonic regale us with this evening. This was Stravinsky’s first entry into neo-Classicism; Pergolesi tunes and other Italian models turn up in cubistic transformations that amazed and amused early listeners and most audiences ever since the ballet’s 1920 premiere.
If Weber’s Clarinet Quintet in B-flat reminds you of the opera, it is with good reason. Weber loved writing operas, and he loved writing for this instrument whose capabilities had so recently been improved, as you can tell when you hear the delightful coloratura and virtuoso passagework that dominates this work. Charles Neidich negotiates the difficulties with deceptive ease, ably supported by L’Archibudelli.
Truls Mork is the featured artist in Dvorak’s only Cello Concerto, in B Minor, with Mariss Jansons conducting the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. This last work written before Dvorak left America feels distinctly Czech, and some commentators think it show signs of homesickness. Whatever autobiographical impulses exist, there is no doubting the memorable beauty of the work.
The complete ballet, "Pulcinella," featured three singers as well as dancers and orchestra, but Stravinsky later wrote a shorter orchestral suite, which is what Yuri Temirkanov and the Royal Philharmonic regale us with this evening. This was Stravinsky’s first entry into neo-Classicism; Pergolesi tunes and other Italian models turn up in cubistic transformations that amazed and amused early listeners and most audiences ever since the ballet’s 1920 premiere.
If Weber’s Clarinet Quintet in B-flat reminds you of the opera, it is with good reason. Weber loved writing operas, and he loved writing for this instrument whose capabilities had so recently been improved, as you can tell when you hear the delightful coloratura and virtuoso passagework that dominates this work. Charles Neidich negotiates the difficulties with deceptive ease, ably supported by L’Archibudelli.
Truls Mork is the featured artist in Dvorak’s only Cello Concerto, in B Minor, with Mariss Jansons conducting the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. This last work written before Dvorak left America feels distinctly Czech, and some commentators think it show signs of homesickness. Whatever autobiographical impulses exist, there is no doubting the memorable beauty of the work.
