Review: Thomas Zehetmair returns to conduct Brahms, Beethoven at SPCO opening weekend

For the opening concert of its season the St Paul Chamber Orchestra welcomes the return of former artistic partner Thomas Zehetmair an Austrian violinist-turned-conductor who in latest years has broadened his artistry to include composing The scheme traces a path from Zehetmair s contemporary turbulence back through the romantic reconciliation of Johannes Brahms s last orchestral work to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart s final symphony To start things off the SPCO performs a new string orchestra arrangement of Zehetmair s string trio Passacaglia Burlesque and Choral It opens with a slurry beginning a blurred mass of repeated tone chords built from adjacent notes on a musical scale that evoke eerie disorder In time these dissonant chords start to sound more musical even as they change in rhythm and tempo before Zehetmair introduces a sly pizzicato and more strident accented rhythms After a pause the composition takes on a searching quality as the melody travels from one instrument to the next including a compelling viola solo performed by principal viola Maiya Papach eventually fading out to nothing leaving the audience suspended in uneasy quiet The work s last movement which in his intro Zehetmair noted derives from a theme Mozart used in his Jupiter Symphony going back to the th century takes on a cacophonous tumult swelling hovering and exploring strange rhythms and lopsided sloppy bliss From Zehetmair s searching dissonances the SPCO moved into Brahms Double Concerto performed by concertmaster Steven Copes and principal cello Julie Albers Brahms wrote the double concerto a rare form at the time for his former friend Joseph Joachim as a way to make amends as well as his frequent collaborator Robert Hausmann The music allows room for each of the soloists to shine as well as be in dialogue with the larger orchestra It often carries a cheerful feeling with wonderful textures After the orchestra launches in with a full flaring sound the cello takes the lead on a sweet almost pensive solo The woodwinds dash in for a moment before the violin arrives leaping across scales before the orchestra returns with a celebratory flair The first movement has ample opportunity for Copes and Albers to demonstrate not only their own skill as separate musicians but also an easy camaraderie that comes from years as colleagues In the second movement warmth prevails woodwinds interject tenderly while violin and cello shadow each other in playful turns The finale opens with a sneaky cello solo answered by a mischievous violin line The music feels like a murder mystery caper propelled by urgency yet never losing its lightness Related Articles This weekend s Selby Avenue JazzFest includes flash mob band Fall arts and entertainment Paul McCartney Farm Aid and the Jonas Brothers are coming to an arena near you Fall arts and entertainment A fall of abundant collaboration in classical music Concert review Country star Jason Aldean christens the newly renamed Grand Casino Arena Headliners missed St Paul K-pop convention due to visa issues After Brahms s resplendent dialogue the SPCO turned to Mozart s Symphony No Jupiter his last and the bulk monumental symphony Zehetmair breathed with the musicians as he conducted guiding the ensemble with physical clarity rather than showmanship The opening Allegro vacillates between punchy jabs and fluttery gaiety The Andante cantabile offers benevolence tinged with shadow its harmonies turning suddenly ominous The Menuetto Allegretto takes the shape of a dance its courtly pulse enlivened by fanciful woodwind slides that seem to tumble over each other You can hear the slide-and-step pattern like footsteps on a ballroom floor The finale arrives like crashes of thunder and lightning shifting between forceful and delicate moments Zehetmair s arms fly as he leads the orchestra toward its stormy finish Opening weekend Who St Paul Chamber Orchestra What Mozart s Jupiter Symphony with Thomas Zehetmair When p m Saturday Sept p m Sunday Sept Where The Ordway Washington St St Paul Tickets - Accessibility ordway org visit accessibility Capsule Former SPCO Artistic Partner Thomas Zehetmair returns to conduct Brahms Beethoven and his own work