Tomorrow we have a rehearsal for the next Inside the Score concert, which will feature Brahms’ First Symphony. One of the few advantages of playing in an orchestra that has a limited number of classical weeks is that I’m not yet sick of any of the Brahms symphonies, especially the First, as it’s probably the most often programmed of the four.
I remember when I was studying with Joseph DePasquale, who was then the principal violist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, I asked him which of the Brahms symphonies was his favorite. I asked if he liked the First. He gave one of his “bah!” laughs and replied that if he never played the Brahms First again, it would be too soon. He explained that they did it nearly every season and on tours, so he’d performed it hundreds of times in his years as principal viola. When pressed, he admitted that the Fourth wasn’t too bad.
We at the OSO, on the other hand, tend to take about 5-7 years to play a cycle of the Brahms symphonies, which means that by the time we do the Third symphony this season, I’ll have done the cycle twice in my 13 seasons. As a consequence, there hasn’t been any contempt bred of familiarity. While I love the autumnal splendor and understated emotion of the later Brahms works, I have to admit that I’m a sucker for his more impetuous, youthful musical statements. The First is full of such moments, right from its grab you by the collar and shake you opening to the gorgeous string scoring of the main theme of the last movement.
I particularly remember as a student seeing a video of Bernstein conducting the Vienna Philharmonic in the finale of the First symphony, and when that moment came, the Viennese strings played with their incomparable richness and Lenny just leaned back against the podium railing and watched them do their thing. It was too much to stand as a young musician who had never seen Lenny conduct, or heard the VPO play, and it stays in my mind to this day as a touchstone of what music-making on the highest level can be.
So, I’m very much looking forward to this performance, and working with conductor Bill Eddins, who comes with high compliments from Elaine Calder. It should be a treat for us and for you.