Andrew Litton, couples counselor.
OK, the artistic director of the Minnesota Orchestra’s Sommerfest hasn’t taken on a second career helping partners stay together, but he seemingly secured the soloists for this weekend’s concerts by pitching it as a 2-for-1 deal.
Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti and German cellist Leonard Elschenbroich have been a couple for at least eight years, but having parallel careers as prominent soloists often keeps them in separate cities. So Litton asked if they’d like to meet up in Minneapolis and perform Johannes Brahms’ Double Concerto with the Minnesota Orchestra for a couple of nights, then play Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with Litton at the piano Saturday and Sunday, concluding the weekend in Winona for the closing concert of the Minnesota Beethoven Festival. It is our good fortune that they agreed.
The Brahms Double Concerto has been the linchpin of many an orchestral rendezvous for this pair in recent years, and Thursday evening’s performance at Minneapolis’ Orchestra Hall demonstrated a special chemistry that goes beyond mere familiarity with one another’s interpretive approaches. I’ve never encountered a performance of this Romantic-era piece that sounded so romantic. While the work is full of bracing drama — and conductor Litton and the orchestra brought out plenty of that — Benedetti and Elschenbroich gave it the feel of an operatic love duet, the unisons building into crescendos of urgent intensity, the exchanges of phrases sounding like longtime partners finishing one another’s sentences.
Never was the bond between them clearer than in the lyrical Andante movement at the center of the concerto. While the Brahms Double is known as a greater showpiece for the cello than the violin, Benedetti brought a sweet, sonorous wistfulness to her solo lines that made clear why she’s the toast of the U.K. classical scene. And Elschenbroich was equally fluid on the fast lines and engagingly expressive on the slow ones. Together, the two brought an intimacy to the interpretation often reminiscent of chamber music.
It was the heart of an hour-long “Symphony in 60” program. Hence, for brevity’s sake, the Fourth Symphony of Peter Tchaikovsky presented at Friday’s full-length concert was subbed out for the same composer’s “1812” Overture on Thursday. After having performed the piece four times at outdoor concerts around Minnesota during Independence Day week, it would be understandable if the orchestra went on automatic pilot for this warhorse.
But, surprise, it was actually one of the stronger performances of the “1812” I’ve heard in recent years, full of clarity and spirit, a palpable enthusiasm for the material shining through. While a rumbling synthesizer fizzled in its imitation of a cannon — how about going old school with a big bang on a bass drum instead? — the crisp brass and richly textured strings made up for it. Perhaps the strains of the “Marseillaise” that course through the work inspired the musicians to send strength and support sailing toward France on what had been a tragic Bastille Day. It certainly felt that way.
IF YOU GO
Who: The Minnesota Orchestra with conductor Andrew Litton, violinist Nicola Benedetti and cellist Leonard Elschenbroich
What and when: Works by Johannes Brahms and Peter Tchaikovsky (8 p.m. Friday) and Beethoven and Brahms (8 p.m. Saturday)
Where: Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Mpls.
Tickets: $70-$30, available at 612-371-5656 or minnesotaorchestra.org
Capsule: A particularly romantic take on Brahms.
