Piazzolla in Season in Cincinnati

Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg

It takes two to tango, but violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg had the entire Cincinnati Symphony string section Thursday night (April 2) at Music Hall.
   The occasion was the CSO premiere of Astor Piazzolla’s “Cuatro Estaciones Portenos” (“The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires”) for violin and string orchestra.
   A sizable crowd was on hand -- Thursday evening ticket buyers get a complimentary buffet dinner before the concert – but clearly the program was very much to their taste as well, opening with Ravel’s “Rapsodie Espagnole” and closing with selections from Prokofiev’s "Romeo and Juliet" ballet suites.

Yan Pascal Tortelier

Guest conductor was Yan Pascal Tortelier, conductor laureate of the BBC Philharmonic.
   Argentine born Piazzolla, who did for the tango what Johann Strauss Jr. did for the waltz, wrote his “Four Seasons” as separate pieces for bandoneon (the Argentinian accordion) and small ensemble.  They were adapted into a four movement concerto for violin and strings by Russian composer Leonid Desyatnikov, who also inserted quotes Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons.”  
   Part of the fun dwells in the fact that the seasons are reversed in the Southern Hemisphere and the Vivaldi snippets you hear are “out of season” with Piazzolla’s.  For example, “Primavera portena” (“Spring in Buenos Aires”) contains a quote from Vivaldi’s “Autumn.”  (The distant, forlorn quote from Vivaldi’s “Spring” heard at the end of the movement sounds like a longing for the fair season.)
   “Primavera” also featured pungent effects, like bowing on and behind the bridge, fierce glissandos, melting solos by Salerno-Sonnenberg and steamy tango rhythms.
   “Verano” (“Summer”) contained winter flurries (Vivaldi) and plenty of warm melody, including some lovely exchanges between the solo violin and associate concertmaster Rebecca Culnan.  It ended with an explosive diminuendo, like air escaping from a punctured tire.
   “Otono” (“Autumn”) and L’Invierno” (“Winter”) were performed in reverse order (though this was not indicated in the printed program). “L'Invierno” (“Winter”) was a beauty, with the lower strings providing a full, rich accompaniment and Salerno-Sonnenberg drawing a lusty sound from her violin.  There were snatches of the storm music from Vivaldi’s “Summer” (naturally) but the movement drew to a lovely, quiet end.
   “Otono” began percussively with ratchet-like sounds by the solo violin produced with short strokes of the bow behind the bridge, and there was lots of “snap” pizzicato by the double basses (letting the string strike the fingerboard).  Associate principal cellist Daniel Culnan, a soloist himself in this movement, invested his lines with beauty and drama before yielding back to Salerno-Sonnenberg, who first broke into jazz with the CSO, then after a cadenza-like moment, slid into a sly, voluptuous solo.  The movement ended with a brief, but exuberant crunch-like chord.
   Salerno-Sonnenberg, a stage personality of the first order, inhabited the music completely and acted as a kind of second conductor to Tortelier, adapting her body language and gestures to the shifting moods of the music.
   Following intermission, the audience was treated to a splendid performance of “Romeo and Juliet.”  Selections heard included “Montagues and Capulets,” “The Child Juliet,” “Masks,” “Romeo and Juliet” (love scene), “The Street Awakens,” “Dance,” “Death of Tybalt,” “Romeo at the Grave of Juliet” and “The Death of Juliet.”
   Tortelier, conducting entirely from memory, drew gorgeous committed playing from the CSO and hearts were broken (again) throughout the hall.  
   Highlights, too many to enumerate, included the opening “Montagues and Capulets,” which painted the intransigence of the warring families with searing intensity; the soaring, almost unearthly love scene; “The Street Awakens,” a charming, bustling movement with a little stinger chord at the end; “Dance” with its gently pointed harmonic clashes; the light sarcasm and dark venom of “Death of Tybalt” and the heavy-treading, devastating death scenes where the horns seemed to cry to heaven.  Tortelier, who dances nimbly on the podium and shapes the music with his hands (no baton) was attentive to the smallest detail.
   The opening “Rapsodie Espagnole,” a prelude and three Spanish dances, sparkled with festive color.
   Repeat is 8 p.m. April 4 at Music Hall.