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When Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra guest conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali cancelled last week because of illness, by chance the guest pianist booked for the week, Jeffrey Kahane, also happened to be a conductor. He stepped in to lead what turned out to be a fascinating concert.
With his back to the audience, sitting at a piano with the lid removed, Kahane was soloist and conductor for Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4. The concentrated communication between musicians was made all the more intriguing for the audience by not being able to see the face of the soloist. Kahane conducted as much or as little as was needed, sometimes simply letting the musicians play. Concertmaster Frank Almond was clearly leading the strings at times, which worked extremely well.
Kahane played with commanding tone and technical assurance. But it was the overall statement of the performance, with the solo part organically enveloped into the orchestra, that was unusually persuasive. Not many people can pull off the play-conduct combination at this high aesthetic level.
The connection between Kahane and the musicians, so well established in the concerto, deepened in Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique. The MSO continues to sound world class, able to change sharply drawn dynamics on a dime, with tight ensemble playing. Kahane used a fluid, light touch to draw color and drama from this familiar score. To be honest, I have tired of this piece in the past, but on Saturday evening I felt as if penetrating new light was being shined on it.
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Earlier in the week Frankly Music celebrated the 150th birthday of Richard Strauss at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Frank Almond led an ensemble of insightfully chosen string players in the sextet from the opera Capriccio, which emerged with conversational lyricism. A septet arrangement of Metamorphosen (originally for 23 string players) created complex restlessness, with music spilling onto itself, the outpouring of something deeply felt by the composer. Both Strauss works were played with warmth, commitment and elegance, as was Mozart’s String Quintet in C, K. 515. The church’s acoustics favored Strauss more than Mozart, in which some details were blurred.
