Two years ago the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra could only seem to play with razor sharpness and unity of purpose when Music Director Edo de Waart was conducting. It had taken de Waart, a master technician, more than three years to move the ensemble from good to excellent, a pretty efficient schedule for such an endeavor.
At some point in the last season or so the MSO evolved to a point where it can sound its best with any conductor, which is actually de Waart’s greatest accomplishment. The MSO’s playing now communicates a mysterious but essential quality detectable in every great orchestra I’ve ever heard: a strong sense of itself as a unified identity, playing with artistic pride in its high standards. It has truly become a team, something beyond just an assembled band of good players doing their best together.
All this came to mind as I listened to Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 Saturday evening, led by MSO associate conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong. At this ordinary subscription concert in this standard piece of orchestral repertoire, I kept thinking over and over: This orchestra sounds fantastic.
The strings were both lush and crisp, trumpets and low brass had tightness and balance of volume among the instruments (akin to what I hear at Chicago Symphony Orchestra, honestly), and the horns sounded gorgeous. Matthew Annin’s second movement horn solo was noble and handsome. Woodwinds were wonderfully communicative in solos or ensemble, with notable playing from flutist Sonora Slocum, oboist Margaret Butler, clarinetist Todd Levy and bassoonist Ted Soluri. And I always appreciate the sophisticated touch of timpanist Dean Borghesani.
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Guest pianist Christopher Taylor was absolutely knock-me-over brilliant in Witold Lutosławski’s very challenging Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, composed in 1987. This modern masterwork was inspired by 200 years of great piano concertos before it. Taylor plays with astounding rhythmic precision, combined with a distinctive and amazing sense of tone. The way he voices chords (meaning which notes to emphasize) is extraordinary. With anything I’ve heard Taylor play, it feels like a definitive, can’t-be-topped interpretation as you’re listening.
