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Saturday, April 27, 2002

By Andrew Druckenbrod, Post-Gazette Classical Music Critic

Hearing the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra premiere Michael Hersch's Symphony No. 2 last night was like watching time-lapse photography of a budding plant. With every measure, you could hear his style growing into something more mature.

That includes "Ashes of Memory," another work of his, premiered by the PSO in 2000. Both were commissioned by the orchestra and conducted by Mariss Jansons, and have the honor of being featured in the PSO's annual Carnegie Hall trip. Symphony No. 2, along with the rest of last night's program at Heinz Hall, travels to New York next week.

	The concert repeats at 8 tonight.

Outside of New York, Pittsburgh probably is most associated with the 30-year-old Hersch, dubbed as one of the most promising American composers.

But we are no longer impressed by his youth and quick climb to fame. If "Ashes of Memory" showed potential, Symphony No. 2 needed to show results.

And it did. The work reveals a more relaxed Hersch, confident enough in his voice to let ideas play out patiently and with honesty. He has fully embraced his personal language and its fascinating use of clusters of notes. Clusters structure the work, generate its themes and upset its movement with shrill punctuation. Hersch derives nearly every aspect of the four-movement symphony -- from its driving fortissimo to its meditative piano, and the aural cliffs in between -- from the language of clusters.

It's not all original, of course. The symphony is occasionally too busy for its own good, but it has a natural, internal progression. After a manic opening phrase, the work moves to pin-drop pianissimo, with wonderful synchronicity between solo violin and piano. Later, Hersch writes a scintillating theme beginning in the cellos and spinning out to the other strings. Throughout the quiet sections, though, he constantly upset the calm with unsettling jabs by the piano.

Another composer known for his youthful prowess was not to be upstaged, however. Mozart got the last word in the second half as Jansons led the PSO, the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh and soloists in his famous "Requiem." It's puzzling why the PSO would take this work to Carnegie Hall, as it showcases singers instead of the world-class orchestra, but it was performed well.

As for the Mendelssohn Choir, this was by far the best it has sounded, particularly in the airy, light sound of the sopranos. Jansons shepherded them closely. As long as the members don't elongate constants in entrances and cut-offs, it should be a powerful performance at Carnegie Hall.

Another excellent piece and a commission of the PSO, Christopher Rouse's "Rapture," led off the concert. The PSO played it even better than before, bringing its buzzing themes together into an uplifting work.