
Photo Via Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra - Facebook
Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons concert
Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons is a classical icon. Several movements from these four violin concertos have become some of the most recognizable highlights of the Baroque, appearing everywhere from mid-2000s ringtones to “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” And yet, this concert turned out to be one of the most surprising, consistently engaging outings with the Milwaukee Symphony in recent memory.
Conductor/harpsichordist David Belkovski presented well in his opening remarks. Before plunging into theater suites by Purcell and Rameau, he emphasized that this was music written not for elites, not for kings, but for us. And he encouraged us to clap between movements whenever we felt like it. This helped to create a friendly, communal atmosphere.
The Purcell suite, an assortment of material from different plays, sounded at times like it could have been film music written yesterday. The opening Curtain Tune from Timon of Athens delighted with its strummed guitar and low string pizzicatos. Scotch Tune from Amphitryon had lovely dynamics, a sense of sweep, and provided the first solo moment from guest violinist Rachell Ellen Wong. All this music was crisply played, with elevated flair, making the best possible impression on many new ears.
Lack of Complication
The Rameau suite got me even more excited. I love Bach, but I can’t stress enough how pleasing it is to hear Baroque music like this with such directness and lack of complication. Nine pieces comprised the suite and all of them were bangers. Most memorable: the Overture to Zoroastre, with dramatic theatrical gestures, the beautiful inevitability of Entrée de Polymnie from Les Boréades, and the Chaconne from Dardanus. The latter piece unfolded in a pleasing way, with some fun activity for basses and bassoons. I commend Maestro Belkovski for emphasizing the basses in general, giving them a weight that anchored the pulse. His conducting and harpsichord playing throughout these two suites were unshowy, always in service of the music and a precise ensemble.
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Rachell Ellen Wong, who had been such a star during the MSO’s Bach Festival in 2023, showed again why she is such a sought-after Baroque performer. She took time to bring the audience into the context of the music, speaking a bit about the sonnet Vivaldi wrote to accompany each concerto. While her microphone needed to be turned up louder, her advocacy and passion came through. She began with the Winter concerto, giving a commanding performance with dramatic cadenzas and expressive passagework. As with her Bach, I noticed an intellectual restlessness, a drive to make every phrase interesting and avoid squareness. The Spring concerto was nicely played; the evocations of birds came off vividly, as did the bagpipes in the third movement.
Wong introduced Fall with a mention of drunken revelry, always a hit in Milwaukee. And boy did she and the orchestra go for it, leaning in cheekily to the depictions of wine-drunk peasants after the harvest. Some gestures provoked genuine laughter in the audience. Likewise, the snoring sounds in the violas were hilariously over-the-top. In Summer, the faster sections of the first movement were dazzling, a credit to the tight ensemble. Wong offered riveting cadenzas in the finale and the ensemble ended on a nice fat final note.
For an encore, I didn’t catch Wong’s quick callout of the title, but I think it was a Michael Jackson song. It was a crafty arrangement that began with Baroque aesthetic and slowly morphed into a folksy, bluesy thing. The audience loved it, and it put an exclamation mark on a most satisfying concert.
I have to return to a non-musical topic of critique from a past review, because it really can’t be ignored: some of the balcony seats, this time in row L, simply have an unacceptable lack of legroom. Any adult over, say, five-foot-three, is guaranteed to experience discomfort. It’s bad enough that I think they should take out that entire first row of seats that jut up against the little wall with the railing. It was an unfortunate miscalculation in the scope of an otherwise extraordinary renovation of the hall that became the Symphony’s new home.