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A Cinematic Clock in Bohemia
Swashbuckling violinist
Friday, December 1, 2006
By Paul M. Somers
New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi (conductor), Vadim Gluzman (violin). Haydn: Symphony no. 101 in D major (“The Clock”); Korngold: Violin Concerto in D major, op. 35; Dvorák: Slavonic Dances, op. 46. Prudential Hall, Newark
“This is my only chance to be a film star!” exclaimed violinist Vadim Gluzman to the evening’s host Darryl Kubian. He was speaking of the “transformation” he undergoes when he plays Violin Concerto of Erich Wolfgang Korngold. The composer is, of course, best-known for his film scores for many a 1930s and 1940s film. But one cannot forget that his opera Die todte Stadt has been performed at New York City Opera and has some often excerpted arias.
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If you didn’t hear his Hollywood scores when the films were in first run, then perhaps you’ll want to look for them in your local library or on TV: his arrangement of Mendelssohn’s music for A Midsummer Night's Dream in the film with Mickey Rooney as Puck (1935), Errol Flynn as Rafael Sabatini’s Captain Blood (1935), Give Us This Night (1936), Hearts Divided (1936), The Green Pastures (1936), Anthony Adverse (1936), Mark Twain’s The Prince And The Pauper (1937), Another Dawn (1937), Errol Flynn in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938, music twice played in film-score concerts by the NJSO), Juarez (1939), The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939), The Sea Hawk (1940), The Sea Wolf (1941), King's Row, featuring Ronald Reagan among others (1942), The Constant Nymph (1943), Between Two Worlds (1944), Devotion (1946), Of Human Bondage (1946), Deception (1946), Escape Me Never (1947), and The Magic Fire (1956) in which he came out of retirement to arrange music by Wagner for this biopic on the composer.
**********Gluzman’s performance of Korngold’s most famous concert work was certainly in the swashbuckling mode — exciting and committed. He played up the most cinematic elements because they were there in spades: the soaring melodies, the colors as vivid as the best of Technicolor ®. So of course Gluzman “sold” the finale, which features one of the most memorable last-movement themes in all the violin literature. The whole orchestra got hold of it and took it to the bank.
There was an instant standing ovation and cheers. As the applause continued, it was Järvi who led the rhythmic clapping for Gluzman.
Gluzman supplied an encore of the “Dance of the Blessed Spirits” from Gluck’s Orfeé ed Euridice with the violin playing the usual flute part and more. Even such an understated piece received cheers.
The concert began with Järvi continuing his emphsis on the symphonies of Haydn, this time presenting the “Clock,” certainly one of the most aptly nicknamed of his works. The “tick-tock” of the second movement is an early challenge for score-reading in conservatory, since the “ticking” bassoons are above the violins on the score but below in sound. The challenge for the players — on this occasion met by all — is not only to be precise in rhythm but in balance and tone quality. Bart Feller’s flute solo over the ticking was exemplary. Järvi’s wide dynamic scope and freedom with Haydn’s pauses both heightened the drama, not only in the second movement but throughout the work. The finale flew along, often glittering with color, and just as often boldly presenting the full orchestra.
The concert concluded with all eight of Dvorák’s Slavonic Dances, op. 46. Some felt it was a “much of a muchness”, while others (this writer included) were intrigued to hear the complete opus in order. What emerged was an overall shape which one, of course, never hears when the dances are played singly or in arbitrary groups. It was interesting to note that the most popular dances are those at either end of the collection, as if programers are unwilling to plunge into the middle. Perhaps it is because the loudest, most adrenaline-producing movements are the bookends. But what is missed, then, are a sweet waltz, an earthy Ländler, and a dancing *canon, among others. The trumpet solo by Garth Greenup in no. 4 was most tasteful, and the two trumpets in *gimel in the trio of no. 3 was wonderfully sentimental. In the several places where Dvorák uses the triangle, James Neglia’s touch lightened the texture and heightened the brightness.
The audience responded enthusiastically, so Järvi responded with an encore of no. 1, while lightly jumping up and down on the podium. Of course there were cheers with the resulting standing ovation.