CPO Review: Brahms Double Concerto with Cohen and Choi

Only two works comprised the CPO’s mid-March Showcase Series pair of concerts, but both were substantial compositions, with much musical food to chew upon and to absorb for the large audience in attendance.

The likely reason for the good-sized crowd was the opportunity to hear concertmaster Diana Cohen and principal cellist Arnold Choi performing together in Brahms’ magisterial Double Concerto In A minor. Rarely performed, it is one of few major works with this combination of soloists.

In her years with the orchestra, violinist Diana Cohen has distinguished herself for leadership of the orchestra and through her solo performances, which have included many of the major concertos in the standard repertoire. Technically accomplished and expressive in her playing, she is now a known quantity with the public and a “draw” when she is featured as a soloist.

For many CPO regulars, Arnold Choi is a familiar Calgary name. Coming from a distinguished local musical family, Choi was extremely active during his young years, especially around Mount Royal Conservatory. But for some time he has been away from the city, and it is only recently that he has returned to take up the important position of principal cellist with the orchestra. This was an opportunity to hear him in a solo role.

Both performers rose magnificently to the occasion, playing with strength and musical authority, their duets eloquent and well matched, and with impressive solo playing individually. This is not Brahms’ most immediately appealing music, but in their hands the underlying beauty of the work was compelling: the melodic lines were strongly shaped and given both nuance and a clear rhythmic character.

Choi, whose smiling face was featured on the concert program, has matured into a fine solo cellist. His playing is marked by a strong, vibrant tone and an easy, generous way of performing, as if the music simply pours out of him. Technically, he is assured, even in the most challenging passages.

The orchestral accompaniment, too, was excellently delivered, even if on occasion Brahms’ heavy scoring threatened to produce just a bit more sound than was needed. Rune Bergmann was a fine accompanist here, sensitive to the preferred tempos of the soloists and blending with them to produce an excellent overall sound. This was, overall, the strongest performance I have heard of this work in many years of attending concerts.

The unusual element came in the second half: the North American premiere (as far as one knows) of Mieczyslaw Karlowicz’s Symphony in E minor. Anyone can be forgiven for saying who? Born in 1876, Karlowicz was a Polish contemporary of Arnold Schoenberg, who had the misfortune to be killed in an avalanche at the age of 32. Clearly a major talent, he was just coming into his own at the time of his early death; over the years his music became almost completely forgotten, at least in North America.

By happy chance conductor Bergmann had the opportunity to acquire the score on a trip to Poland, and Calgarians are the first, it seems, to have the opportunity to sample the melody-saturated score of the young Pole, who at the time seems to have been strongly influenced by Tchaikovsky.

The music is filled with much late-romantic angst, but it includes moments of lightness and humour as well. And, as is typical of big romantic symphonies (and this certainly is such a piece), it has a stirring finale in the brilliant manner, with bold, noble-sounding melodies of a “victory” type.

Unfamiliar to the audience, the music nevertheless hit the mark, and there was an instant standing ovation at the end, not just for the eloquence of the performance but for the happy surprise of hearing such attractive music from a completely unknown source.

Conducting from memory, Bergmann led the orchestra in a performance that stressed both the melodic dimension of the music and also the colourful orchestration. There was plenty for the brass, and many solos for the woodwinds, and even for the solo cello. All the players seemed to enjoy their moments in the spotlight, and helped with a big, warm sound from the strings, the symphony was a delight.

The post-Christmas concerts of the CPO have been particularly good this year, the orchestra having nicely integrated its many new faces. One senses that the players are increasingly comfortable with each other as musical colleagues and are playing with increased confidence. This was also an exceptionally good event for Bergmann, the music evidently suited to his personality and temperament. There were many happy and satisfied smiles on the faces of the patrons as they left Jack Singer Hall after the concert.