MSO Labadie Conducts Mozart
It’s a new year at the Milwaukee Symphony, and the season has resumed with a tableau of composers from the Classical era, anchored by Mozart’s famous Symphony No. 40 in G minor and conducted by guest Bernard Labadie.
Classical-era symphonies in a minor key are a rarity, so I can understand the choice to pair Mozart’s masterpiece with a C-minor symphony by the little-known Henri-Joseph Rigel. But most of the interest ended there. For three movements I waited in vain for some kind of distinct theme, but all I heard was classical building blocks and flourishes. Maestro Labadie and the MSO did little to elevate the music either. The ensemble sound was nondescript and a bit bottom-heavy. The third movement had the most musical appeal, with nice dialogues and dynamic contrasts.
In Hummel’s trumpet concerto, principal trumpet Matthew Ernst revealed himself as an excellent solo performer. His reading of the first movement was full of great control and crisp articulations. Labadie got a more successful performance out of the orchestra here too, with the larger forces allowing the character of individual groups to emerge. In the second movement, Ernst had a sweet singing tone and well-shaped crescendos, though in some spots he drifted out of sync with the orchestra. The energetic finale (which, like the Rigel finale, contained the most engaging music) provided the best technical showcase for Ernst. It was some of the best trumpet playing I had heard in years. The audience gave him an enthusiastic ovation that one might expect for a visiting star.
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I was reminded while reading the program notes that January 27 was in fact Mozart’s birthday, and what better way to celebrate than with his Symphony No. 40 in G minor. This is one of the composer’s greatest works, one of equal parts elegance and strangeness, and with motivic saturation anticipating Beethoven’s experiments. If I recall, the proportions of the first movement may even adhere to the Golden Ratio. In that movement, Labadie coaxed out all the odd details that make this music so striking. The development landed with particular excitement.
In the ensuing Andante, the strings played with a good sense of Mozartian style. The wind section had some iffy moments early on but redeemed themselves in the lovely sighing phrases at the end. The Minuet came off well, with Labadie again highlighting the dissonances and off-kilter elements. Phrases were well-shaped, and the B section featured beautiful chamber wind textures. The finale was a delight to watch and hear, with the strings ripping into the fast scale passages. The development section achieved a breathless excitement as thematic phrases were passed around the ensemble.
Thinking about this concert, I’m still puzzled by the programming. Why have an all-Classical program built around a Mozart symphony when next weekend’s concert will feature both a Mozart symphony and concerto? The occasion of Mozart’s birthday doesn’t seem like a strong enough reason. Or at the very least, the forgettable Rigel symphony could have been swapped out with any number of contemporary works (Neoclassical or otherwise) with chamber scoring.
