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PSO unleashes power of Tchaikovsky's turbulent 4th PSO Review Monday, November 08, 1999 By Andrew Druckenbrod, Post-Gazette Classical Music Writer
Reprinted from Saturday's late editions.
We largely think of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky as a happy soul, the composer of "The Nutcracker" and of lushly romantic melodies, such as that of his overture "Romeo and Juliet."
But he was a troubled man full of powerful emotional conflicts, possibly suffering from manic depression and certainly struggling with his homosexuality.
Leave it to the innovative Indiana University of Pennsylvania Marching Band to lead Pittsburgh's first anti-parade.
At least that's what it looked like when the 220-member ensemble parked itself on the sidewalk opposite Heinz Hall Saturday evening to give a brief performance before the PSO's Soundbytes concert.
With the band crammed three to four rows deep on the sidewalk and cars marching down the road instead, everything seemed just a little topsy-turvy. Everything, that is, except the sound of the group. The band treated bystanders to a sumptuous brass and horn sound and a mix of classical and popular music medleys. The music was, however, mostly unbearably loud bacause the musicians stood so close to the audience.
The concert was a stop for the IUP Marching Band on its the way to performing at the close of a 25-group high school marching band competition taking place at Trinity High School in Washington County.
-- Andrew Druckenbrod
Friday night the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra examined this lesser-known Tchaikovsky, performing perhaps the most personal work he ever wrote, his tormented Symphony No. 4 in F minor. Guest conductor Gunther Herbig led the concert at Heinz Hall, with pianist Louis Lortie also performing Frederic Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2.
Composed during his infamously disastrous marriage to Antonina Ivanovna Milyukova, Symphony No. 4 reflects on one level a man tormented by his specific situation. But the symphony's examination of fate and the human condition rings universal. The work, therefore, deserves and needs a treatment similar to other symphonic essays on struggle, such as Ludwig van Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. Herbig did exactly that, ushering in a powerful performance that conveyed equally well the turbulence of the work and its moments of sonic beauty.
The brass section was particularly potent and played to the breaking point and a little beyond, from its haunting "fate" theme to the nearly over-the-top climaxes. They played a bit raw at times, giving the work a poignant and almost visceral constitution. It was wonderful that Herbig unleashed them so. It's uncommon that a conductor will give up that control, but it can pay dividends.
Lortie's performance of the Chopin, another work in F minor, amounted to a polar opposite. He was technically perfect, with some absolutely breathtaking phrasing and runs. But the impression of struggle was not there.
Chopin's concerto doesn't plumb the same depths as the Tchaikovsky. However, it does have some emotional content. Lortie simply played it too nicely. He didn't appear willing to risk muffing his glossy tone. Most striking was the third movement, which is in Mazurka form. The Mazurka is a Polish dance, but Lortie played it much too stately.
Proof that Lortie can play with a presence came with his encore, a Chopin Etude. Here he grabbed hold of the piece and rendered it his own, complete with improvisatory ritardandos and poetic expression. The concerto could have used this treatment, as well.
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