{"id":4385,"date":"2010-04-09T16:52:35","date_gmt":"2010-04-09T23:52:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/?p=4385"},"modified":"2013-02-07T20:19:17","modified_gmt":"2013-02-08T04:19:17","slug":"reviews-of-kalmar-bso-performances-come-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/04\/09\/reviews-of-kalmar-bso-performances-come-in\/","title":{"rendered":"reviews of kalmar bso performances come in"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Carlos Kalmar conducts the Boston Symphony in the Harbison Double Concerto with soloists Mira Wang and Jan Vogler. (photo: Michael Lutch)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The reviews are mixed, but generally positive thus far.\u00a0 Jeremy Eichler<\/strong> in the Boston Globe<\/em> has a review<\/a> which gives precious little to indicate how the performance went at all, other than to single out a few sections to praise the quality of their playing, and to describe the basic structure of the Harbison premiere, with little given to the Mahler performance, though it is positive:<\/p>\n

After intermission came Mahler\u2019s Seventh, in a way the most enigmatic of his symphonies. Kalmar, who directs the Oregon Symphony Orchestra, led a clear and energetic account, even if there were times when one wished for a bit more spaciousness and transparency in the orchestra\u2019s sound.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Philip Kennicott<\/strong>, culture writer for the Washington Post<\/em>, was more specific and much harsher in his blog’s critique<\/a>:<\/p>\n

This was as unfocused and episodic a performance as I\u2019ve heard the BSO give in the years since I started visiting Boston regularly. Kalmar simply didn\u2019t have a solid sense of the piece, its larger architecture, or its details. Everything was in the foreground\u2014the brass especially\u2014without texture, depth or complexity of sound behind it. You were torn between wishing the piece would be over, and frustration that he wouldn\u2019t just slow down a little and let it breath. He never found the balance between indulging the wildness of Mahler\u2019s heterogeneous material, and forging a coherent narrative to carry it forward.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Completely at odds with Kennicott is Mark DeVoto<\/strong>, of the Boston Musical Intelligencer<\/em>, who among other things writes<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Carlos Kalmar, visiting from Oregon, had to learn Harbison\u2019s score in a hurry when he took over from an ailing James Levine, and he can be congratulated for his good work. Kalmar\u2019s conducting is precise and elegant; a large gesture got a large response, his small gestures were carefully followed, his left hand was fully independent, and his accents were clean every time. Like most younger conductors, he bends his knees too much, but this is a small complaint; I have seen too many guests at the BSO relying on histrionics far more egregious than this.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And here’s another blog review from Let’s Call This Music<\/a>:<\/p>\n

This was only my second live performance of Mahler, both by the BSO, and they naturally did their part exquisitely to convey the range of emotions with verve. Notably absent from tonight\u2019s performance was James Levine, our music director who is out with further health issues. Here\u2019s to his speedy recovery, and thanks sincerely to Kalmar for doing a fantastic job, especially considering the emergency scheduling. From above, one saw Kalmar\u2019s hair and almost wondered if Albert Einstein might have been conducting on stage. Also missing on stage this evening was concertmaster Malcolm Lowe, assistant principal Tamara Smirnova, and Bo Youp Hwang. However, Alexander Velinzon took over in the first chair spot, playing the solos and small ensemble first violin parts wonderfully.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the photo above, you can also see former OSO cellist Adam Esbensen just above and to the left of Carlos’ head.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The reviews are mixed, but generally positive thus far.\u00a0 Jeremy Eichler in the Boston Globe has a review which gives precious little to indicate how the performance went at all, other than to single out a few sections to praise the quality of their playing, and to describe the basic structure of the Harbison premiere, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[148,299,2],"tags":[461],"class_list":["post-4385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appreciations","category-conducting","category-the-orchestra-world","tag-boston-symphony"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-18J","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4271,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/03\/26\/oso-music-director-to-conduct-bso\/","url_meta":{"origin":4385,"position":0},"title":"OSO music director to conduct BSO","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 26, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"David Stabler reports that Carlos Kalmar has been asked to fill in for James Levine with the Boston Symphony in early April. UPDATE: David Stabler reports that CK will also be filling in for Esa Pekka Salonen with the Chicago Symphony this coming week. [link]","rel":"","context":"In "conducting"","block_context":{"text":"conducting","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/conducting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4284,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/03\/29\/red-tide\/","url_meta":{"origin":4385,"position":1},"title":"red tide","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 29, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"There's been quite a bit of unfortunate news for American orchestras in the past week or so.\u00a0 Here's a roundup of what I've noticed lately.\u00a0 Fortunately, there is no mention of the Oregon Symphony here - and in fact, ticket sales for next season are very strong.\u00a0 I think that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "administration"","block_context":{"text":"administration","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/administration-the-orchestra-world-music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":935,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/04\/19\/kalmar-prokofiev-earthshaking\/","url_meta":{"origin":4385,"position":2},"title":"kalmar, prokofiev earthshaking","author":"Charles Noble","date":"April 19, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"This past Friday, the St. Louis area was awakened by the shaking of a 5.2 magnitude earthquake.\u00c2\u00a0 That evening the St. Louis Symphony was led by OSO music director Carlos Kalmar in a performance that included the Fifth Symphony of Sergei Prokofiev.\u00c2\u00a0 According to this review and other accounts, this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14158,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2016\/07\/05\/oregon-symphony-announces-kalmar-contract-renewal\/","url_meta":{"origin":4385,"position":3},"title":"oregon symphony announces kalmar contract renewal","author":"Charles Noble","date":"July 5, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Since The Oregonian doesn't cover the Oregon Symphony anymore (presumably because it's not prime click bait like naked Shakespeare or Obama mortgage rates), it has probably gone unnoticed amongst the general OSO patron population that \u00a0Carlos Kalmar just signed a three-year contract renewal with the Oregon Symphony. The bigger news\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "conducting"","block_context":{"text":"conducting","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/conducting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/kalmar16_cr_Leah_Nash_original-e1467756129278.jpg?fit=700%2C466&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/kalmar16_cr_Leah_Nash_original-e1467756129278.jpg?fit=700%2C466&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/kalmar16_cr_Leah_Nash_original-e1467756129278.jpg?fit=700%2C466&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/kalmar16_cr_Leah_Nash_original-e1467756129278.jpg?fit=700%2C466&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8149,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2013\/01\/17\/blog-speed-bumps\/","url_meta":{"origin":4385,"position":4},"title":"blog speed bumps","author":"Charles Noble","date":"January 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi all - please pardon the lack of posts and also the very slow loading of the blog lately. 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Thomas Ad\u00e8s\u2019 new concerto \u2013 described as a successor to Gershwin\u2019s Rhapsody in Blue by\u00a0The\u00a0Boston Globe\u00a0\u2013 will be delectable in the hands of his longtime friend Kirill Gerstein. Lithuanian composer Raminta \u0160erk\u0161nyt? opens the program with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/wwibp.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/wwibp.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/wwibp.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4385\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}