Different orchestras around the world have different strengths.
They sound better playing music by certain composers or from certain time periods, depending on the individual players and regular conductor.
It’s fair to argue an orchestra or conductor’s nationality plays a role in these strengths, as there is a wealth of symphonic music based on the folk tunes of different countries and regions. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, for example, with its Austrian music director Manfred Honeck, is known for its performances of music by great Austrian composers like Mahler and Bruckner. (The orchestra’s 2024 recording of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7 made it onto several “best classical album” lists around the world at the end of the year.)
But this isn’t always the case. Lately, the symphony has been sounding better than superb with the music of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. Outside of a pair of Sibelius symphonies in the last year, two rare works by Sibelius appeared on programs in January, including on Friday’s performance, with the orchestra bringing Sibelius’ musical retellings of Finnish folk tales to life to tremendous effect: “Oceanides” earlier in the month and “Pohjola’s Daughter” on Friday.
British Sir Mark Elder leading this weekend’s concerts. Before beginning, he took a moment at the outset to explain the story of “Pohjola’s Daughter,” a brief 12-minute account of an adventure in the “Kalevala,” the Finn’s national epic and creation myth. It’s a frustrating tale, where the hero stops his sledding to attempt to woo the “daughter of the North,” who sets him an impossible task. Even though the hero is skilled in magic, he fails and continues on his journey.
Friday’s performance was captivating, helped by the title screens that appeared to help orient listeners in the music’s abstraction. A solo cello melody, somber and noble on Friday in the hands of the orchestra’s principal cellist Anne Martindale Williams, introduces the hero. He takes off on a sled as the music speeds up, a pair of oboes pushing the momentum until he reaches the woman in a great brass fanfare, followed by a more mysterious parlay.
Rhythms were tight, and the orchestra’s subtle shading of different instrumental color brought the work to life in sharp relief. The balance between rugged intrepidity and fantastical whimsy is sheer delight. Alas, there aren’t more pieces by Sibelius this season, but this concert repeats on Sunday.
The remainder of the program featured English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Concerto in A minor for Oboe and String Orchestra, with the orchestra’s principal oboist Cynthia Koledo DeAlmeida as soloist, and Shostakovich’s mysterious Symphony No. 15, filled with now-esoteric references to the composer’s own works and music by other famous composers.
DeAlmeida’s was an unhurried but exact performance, emphasizing the music’s curiosity and warmth throughout a tuneful trio of movements. It was excellent, though I could have used a touch more intensity at times for the sake of contrast.
Meanwhile, Shostakovich’s final symphony, unlike the Sibelius, remains open to interpretation, as the composer refused to provide a definitive program. Friday’s performance highlighted the work’s emotional ambiguity, giving an impression of a coiled spring for much of the performance, save two glorious outburst from the brass in the funereal second movement and an ambivalent finale.
This concert repeats Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Tickets begin at $25 at pittsburghsymphony.org.
Jeremy Reynolds: jreynolds@post-gazette.com. His work at the Post-Gazette is supported in part by a grant from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Getty Foundation and Rubin Institute.
First Published: February 1, 2025, 4:02 a.m.
Updated: February 1, 2025, 12:32 p.m.
