Music Review
Tchaikovsky no match for symphony
By Gregory Shepherd
The fireworks were out in full display Sunday for the Honolulu Symphony's performance featuring pianist extraordinaire Misha Dichter.
Advertiser library photo • Feb. 17, 2000
The all-Tchaikovsky program ran the gamut of full-blown romantic emotionalism, and Dichter's performance of the Concerto No. 1 ignited skyrockets of Fourth of July proportions.
Misha Dichter's fingers will fly in the Honolulu Symphony's last performance of the year tonight.
This is an extraordinarily busy concerto with the performer going full-bore pretty much from start to finish.
The difficulty of the first movement progresses exponentially from the simple opening chords up and down the keyboard and Dichter's technical expertise went far beyond nimble. Tchaikovsky throws live ammo at the performer and Dichter threw it all back without losing composure.
As if the main portion of the movement weren't bustling enough, Tchaikovsky's cadenza features sections played simultaneously with double trills, which Dichter invested with lovely tone and near-perfect execution.
The second movement settles down a bit and Laurie Lake's tranquil flute solo was a nice contrast to the sea of flames that preceded it. Dichter then seized the rambunctious third movement and made its teeming passages his own. Had he been paid by the note Sunday, he could have retired after the concert.
The love theme of Tchai-kovsky's "Romeo and Juliet" Fantasy is instantly familiar to most people because it has been used on TV to sell everything from perfume to pickup trucks. Its gushing emotion is perfect for its theme, and the other sections of the work are similarly well suited to the story of Shakespeare's star-crossed lovers.
| Honolulu Symphony | |
| • | With pianist Misha Dichter |
| • | 7:30 p.m. today |
| • | Blaisdell Concert Hall |
| • | Tickets: $15-$55 |
| • | 792-2000 |
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Samuel Wong's interpretation was crafted so that every musical detail was clear and focused but not at the expense of the work's passion.
Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, nicknamed the "Little Russian" for its use of folk tunes, closed the program the way it opened — with unabashedly rhapsodic but finely crafted music.
One might quibble that Tchaikovsky sometimes babbles on and on without saying anything new (especially in the last movement), but there is something endearing about composers who wear their musical hearts on their sleeve.
Ken Friedenberg and Marsha Schweitzer (horn and bassoon, respectively) gave shape and focus to the first movement with their solos. The second movement provides nice, light contrast with its quasi-martial theme, and James Moffitt's clarinet solo was sensitively rendered.
The final movement brings Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" to mind, with a theme that is both stately and heroic.
The lyric section that follows it contrasts nicely in both character and sonority. Although the two themes are repeated a few times more than is necessary, Tchai-kovsky crafts a brilliant bravura ending that, after a final performance tonight, will echo in the ear until the next symphony season begins in the fall.
Gregory Shepherd has been the Advertiser's classical music critic since 1987.
