On March 8, 2014, Utah Symphony conducted once again by Mark Wigglesworth gave a stellar performance of three very different pieces.
The concert opened with a well-informed rendition of Mozart's Symphony No. 35 in D Major. After an excellent evening of music making the previous week, Wigglesworth proved his diversity in capabilities as immediately following this classical work, he conducted Witold Lutoslawski's Symphony No. 4. The two pieces couldn't have been more different from each other. One classical and melodic, the other extremely modern and atonal. Both pieces were performed with precision and excellence typical of the symphony, but paired together, they were bizarre and ineffective.
This calls to attention to something reviewer Rebecca Howard mentioned the previous week when reviewing the Utah Symphony: programming. These three pieces did not belong on the same program together. They did nothing to enhance each other and it proved more of a distraction and deterrent than the daring concept it may have seemed. Though each piece was so wonderfully performed, so much was lost as well because of the bizarre pairings.
The second half of the concert was dedicated to a performance of Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 in E minor, "From the New World." Most audiences are familiar with the melody of the second movement that attempts to resemble and American folk song or African-American spiritual and given the text "Goin' Home." Though the movement is exquisite on its own, it truly belongs a part of the larger work and it was a great reminder to see how the familiar is enhanced when it's in its original context. The symphony gave a wonderful and passionate performance, Mark Wigglesworth is a fine conductor and we were lucky to have him two weeks in a row.
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