PSO waltzes on higher ground: risers make a comeback
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Manfred Honeck is raising the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra to new heights -- 40 centimeters to be exact.
That's the height of the tallest of a set of risers that the music director is using this weekend and next to ascertain if the orchestra should buy new ones. The practice set used last night at Heinz Hall was a motley crew of different makes, but the sight lines created by the height helped some of the musicians (and the audience near the stage) view more of the orchestra better than their current placement on a flat stage.
Mr. Honeck also opened the towers that serve as the back wall of the hall to diffuse the sound. This probably affected the sound more than the risers, although with so many variables it was hard to tell. I personally could not tell a huge difference in the work with the largest ensemble on stage, Dvorak's Cello Concerto, but the waltzes in the second half of the concert were richer in tone than I remember.
Most of the musicians are happy to see risers again after former maestro Mariss Jansons abandoned them in 2001 -- but their effect can't be judged in two weeks. Confidence in the new arrangement and the subtle connections that will come from the new arrangement will take some time, but ultimately might improve the music-making of the PSO more than the acoustic alterations.
The sober tone of the above really doesn't do justice to what was a fun and satisfying concert. Manfred Honeck is pushing to be the waltz king of Pittsburgh, and this is the third installment of a lighter classics program featuring Viennese waltzes during Thanksgiving week. It won't be long before Mr. Honeck is conducting the grand New Year's Concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic -- the fit is just too perfect for the brilliant Austrian conductor -- and he knows how to assemble one.
First Published November 27, 2010 3:32 am
