The New York Philharmonic Returns

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The storied orchestra has resumed regular indoor concerts after an 18-month, Covid-19-related absence, but gets off to a rocky start.

Pianist Daniil Trifonov (foreground) performing on opening night

New York

In a move echoed by many American symphony orchestras this fall, the New York Philharmonic has resumed regular indoor concerts after an 18-month, pandemic-related absence. On Friday, it presented the opening program, “From Silence to Celebration,” at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, whose seating capacity is only 40% of its usual abode at David Geffen Hall, currently undergoing renovation. The orchestral sound, while not blaring or unpleasant, was often louder in quieter passages than the scores called for, suggesting that the Philharmonic needs to adjust its volume or decrease the number of players in this smaller space.

And this wasn’t the only problem. Despite the festive air in the sold-out hall—with standing ovations for all onstage before the music-making began—it was hard to celebrate afterward. Music director Jaap van Zweden and his forces plowed through two of the four pieces, with little success in bringing out expressive nuances. 

If this tendency, persistently noted by critics, continues, then the recent, unexpected announcement of Mr. Van Zweden’s departure at the end of the 2023-24 season may be for the best. But having heard his gripping, insightful accounts of Béla Bartók’s “Bluebeard’s Castle” and David Lang’s “Prisoner of the State” in 2019, I hope for a “reset” after conductor and orchestra have had more time together. (This week’s concerts will take place on Sept. 23-25 at the slightly larger Rose Theater, the Jazz at Lincoln Center facility.)

The order in which the works on the 90-minute program of Beethoven, Anna Clyne, Aaron Copland and George Walker were presented implied a pathway from grief, loneliness and discord to joy. And the concert began along those lines, with Mr. Van Zweden’s well-sculpted, empathetic rendering of Ms. Clyne’s “Within Her Arms”—a moving elegy for her mother, who died suddenly in 2008. Since the beginning of 2021, the adagio-like piece has been performed by eight U.S. orchestras and the Hong Kong Philharmonic, with three more outings to come later this season.

Before the work was played, Lincoln Center’s poet-in-residence Mahogany L. Browne gave an effective reading of the text that inspired it, written by Buddhist monk Thích Nhat Hanh.

Written in 2008-09 for 15 strings, “Within Her Arms” uses simple thematic materials and sparse musical textures to telling effect. It begins with a despairing four-note melodic fragment that recurs throughout the piece. At times, the strings intertwine briefly before their connections are severed by pauses or other interruptions. As the work nears the end, swirling melodic lines swell and recede with rhapsodic fervor. Concertmaster Frank Huang’s violin playing was especially poignant. 

Jaap van Zweden leads the New York Philharmonic in its opening night concert

Photo: Chris Lee

Copland’s “Quiet City,” a 10-minute suite for chamber orchestra, was fashioned in 1940 from incidental music he wrote for an eponymous play that never officially opened. When BBC Television broadcast the work from the opening BBC Proms concert in 2020, images of deserted streets in Britain and around Europe were interspersed with the performance. At Tully, the work proved less eloquent than its title. Mr. Van Zweden rarely conveyed the loneliness or hushed dreaminess of the work. Principal players Christopher Martin, trumpet, and Ryan Roberts, English horn, stationed on either side of the conductor’s podium, were technically brilliant, slowly unfurling their solo lines. But Copland said the trumpet part was intended to convey the inner distress of the play’s main character. Mr. Martin was more straightforward than that, though he delivered his fanfare-like flourishes with golden-hued flair. Mr. Ryan came closer to achieving the wistful quality inherent in his part. 

The clashing sounds of Walker’s “Antifonys” for chamber orchestra (1968) provided an apt contrast to the lyricism of the Clyne and the Copland. Bustling with musical activity, including explosive percussion effects, the work can sound fitful and meandering. But Mr. Van Zweden’s taut interpretation avoided that pitfall and revealed the score’s occasional snatches of Expressionist beauty. 

Next came the world premiere of “A Country of Water,” a vibrant poem of self-affirmation by Ms. Browne that seemed less connected to the rest of the program. 

Mahogany L. Browne on opening night

Photo: Chris Lee

Guest soloist Daniil Trifonov then trained his considerable virtuosic arsenal on Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major. Rapid scales up and down the keyboard, descending thirds and extended trills were fired off adroitly. Conductor and soloist appeared united in a superficial reading that emphasized the concerto’s exuberant, dramatic elements but blunted its subtleties. Mr. Trifonov was particularly disappointing in the short but exquisite Andante, whose loud, acerbic staccato unisons for strings become progressively quieter as the piano sings tender, aria-like passages. The soloist dispatched them matter-of-factly.

The orchestra, which ranged from 50 to 60 players except in the Clyne piece, played with impressive cohesion and skill. The warmth of the cellos in the final movement of the Beethoven was a particular delight. The opportunity to hear classical music indoors, even though listeners can’t safely forgo masks and other entrance requirements yet, was definitely another. Perhaps in coming weeks everyone will settle down to more meaningful, deeply explored performances.