Stenhammar the discovery of Gilbert's BSO concert at Tanglewood

 

Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871-1927)

Whenever Alan Gilbert comes to town to lead the Boston Symphony Orchestra, one can always expect a few surprises.

 

His program with the BSO, heard Sunday afternoon at Tanglewood's Koussevitzky Shed, paired a little-heard Schumann gem with a beloved Mozart concerto. Yet it was Stenhammar's Serenade, the concert's closer, that continues to linger in the memory.

 

Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871-1927) was perhaps Sweden's most iconic composer, though his music remains largely unheard outside of his homeland. He was versatile, producing two completed symphonies, several concertos and string quartets, as well as choral works. It's a wonder why his Serenade remains unknown.  Completed in 1902 during a visit to Italy, the stirring score combines sounds of bucolic serenity with moments of mystery.

 

Gilbert described the piece as the "love child of Strauss and Sibelius." Indeed, the work, with its colorful orchestration and flowering melody, reflect the more ebullient works of those composers. Yet there are moments of Griegian melancholy, and the detailed orchestration even recalls Mahler.

 

The Overture is full of wild contrasts, where brassy fanfares interject between skipping string figures. All smooth out into gentle woodwind passages that capture a brief sense of repose. Lower strings then answer with warm, hymn-like statements that underscore beaming melodies in the violins, recalling Strauss's Aus Italien. Moments of stasis—a kind of Wagnerian harmonic mist—break up the flow, and the movement ends with an elfin flourish to turn the music once again towards light.

 

The Canzonetta, which unfolds as a slow waltz, frames passages of chamber-like delicacy. Solo clarinet phrases float above undulating strings, and a duet between violin and cello bring an almost pastoral calm. In Gilbert's reading, the gentle rubato shading allowed the melodies to flower in the ensemble.

 

The Scherzo is a vivacious affair, where chromatic passages bring hints of darkness. But the Notturno casts the work's largest shadow. There, string lines create a rich sonority, which segue into burbling woodwind figures when the clouds lift. In the finale, the music swells into grand statements before breaking into a final flourish in the spirited conclusion.

 

Gilbert led the score with an eye to every detail, coaxing elegant solos from the BSO principal players. Stenhammar's music, in turn, received bold advocacy.

 

The solo spotlight of the afternoon fell upon violinist Stefan Jackiw, who offered a dramatic performance of Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 5.

 

Jackiw revealed all the grace and energy of this familiar music. His opening line, shaped in a long, smooth phrase, carried vitality and urgency. The cadenzas, created by Robert Levin, explored colorful pizzicatos and fiery technical flourishes without sacrificing musicality.

Photo: Hilary Scott

The Rondeau took on appropriate dance-like flair as Jackiw's arpeggios and running scales brought live-wire intensity. The violinist dug in for the country dance that falls mid movement to capture a tasteful rustic verve.

 

But the heart of this performance was the Adagio, which took on supple lyricism. Jackiw answered the orchestra in hushed tones, shaping the melodies in long arcs, swelling them in gentle crescendos, and then resolving the line in a breathless cadence. Gilbert led a sensitive accompaniment from the orchestra. Mozart, this reading suggested, was a true master of the intimate moment.

 

The concert opened with Robert Schumann's Bride of Messina Overture. Schumann composed this eight-minute score as the introduction to an opera, based on Friedrich Schiller's tale of incest and fratricide, that never materialized.

 

Gilbert led an incisive reading that realized the work’s sense of tension and release. The orchestra answered with conviction, the ensemble taking on dimension and depth.