NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC GIVES SNEAK PEEK OF ASIAN TOUR WITH BRAHMS PIANO CONCERTO NO.1 WITH YUJA WANG

MUSIC DIRECTOR-DESIGNATE JAAP VAN ZWEDEN TUNES UP FOR HIS FIRST ASIAN TOUR WITH THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC

Photo: Chris Lee

by Dwight Casimere

NEW YORK-The excitement in the audience was palpable at David Geffen Hall in Lincoln Center when New York Philharmonic Music Director-Designate Jaap van Zweden took to the podium with the Beijing-born  soloist Yuja Wang to lead the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1. It was a scintillating performance and most apropriate as the orchestra was on the eve of its first Asian tour under its new leader. 

The svelte virtuoso quickly lived up to her reputation as one of the most electrifying performers on the concert stage today. Her velocity-defying octave trills in the opening movement showed off her phenomenal dexterity as did her emotive playing in the Adagio. Maestro van Zweden elicited a lush sound from the violins in the opening theme. Wang's  towering technique  then melded into the delightful rhythms expressed in the Hungarian Dance themes that drove the final movement to its thundering climax. Wang obliged the audience's effusive applause with a pair of encores; Mendelssohn's Song Without Words and in F sharp minor and Brahm's Intermezzo in C sharp minor.

Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5 allowed the orchestra to stretch out and show its true mettle under Maestro van Zweden's firm hand. The Prokofiev showed the orchestra's superior capability and  dynamic range with van Zweden nimbly navigating the orchestra through the composer's contrasting passages. Soaring violins followed by sonorous cellos and majestic brass with solid percussion urging the entire ensemble to the exciting conclusion.

If this concert was any indication,  audiences in Beijing Kyoto, Tokyo, Nagaya and Taipei are enjoying a thrilling encounter with the New York Philharmonic during this week's tour. 

Monday, April 2 at 7:30 the orchestra returns to Brooklyn's National Sawdust for a Co-presentation of CONTACT! At National Sawdust with host Esa-Pekka Salonen. The orchestra returns to David Geffen Hall Wednesday, April 4 at 9:45 am for an Open Rehearsal with Guest Conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen at the podium for a program of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 with virtuoso Benjamin Grosvenor at the keyboard, followed by Beethoven's thunderous Eroica Symphony to be performed at 7:30pm Wednesday evening and again Thursday and Friday at 7:30pm and 8pm respectively. Visit nyphil.org for tickets and information.