PORTLAND, Ore. — In a concert headlined by Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto, the Oregon Symphony performed some rarely heard gems Jan. 11 under the theme of “Leaders and Pathbreakers” at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Duke Ellington’s Three Black Kings, which honored Mark Luther King, Jr. and two biblical kings, Joan Tower’s Sixth Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman, and Beethoven’s overture to King Stephen received their first-ever performances by the orchestra.
Perhaps daring to push things to the limit, soloist Yefim Bronfman and the orchestra’s music director, David Danzmayr, took an uptempo tour of Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto, which made it less satisfying to this listener, although it did fit the spirit of the evening.
Ellington, well-known for finishing new works at the very last minute, was in the hospital in 1974 and unable to complete his final composition, Three Black Kings. So, before he died, he handed off the piece to his son, Mercer, a successful bandleader and composer, who filled it out before giving it to Luther Henderson, who orchestrated the piece. It was choreographed by Alvin Ailey and premiered in 1976.
The three movements of Three Black Kings pay homage to the Bible’s King Balthazar (the African king of the Three Magi), King Solomon, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Right from the top, the percussion battery established an infectious rhythmic drive with conga drums, marimba, drum set, and ratchet that gave way to a sinewy melody, evoking African and Asian origins. For Solomon, the music swayed into the dance-hall with the strings, horns, and the smooth, sultry trumpet of principal Jeffrey Work. The final movement gradually built from a quiet space to eulogize the great civil rights leader with a rousing, gospel-like finale.
Since the success of her initial Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman, which premiered in 1987, Tower has written several more fanfares on that theme. She wrote her sixth entry in 2014 for piano — dedicating it to composer Tania León — and rescored it for full orchestra in 2016. It launched the Oregon Symphony concert with splashy and propulsive optimism, including huge glissandos that seesawed delightfully for a few measures before emphatic chords brought it to a close.
In 1811, Beethoven received a commission to compose vocal and instrumental music for King Stephen, a new play by August von Kotzebue based on the life of the founder of the Kingdom of Hungary in the year 1000. Scholars have noted that the overture has a phrase that is similar to the first phrase of the vocal theme in the finale of the Ninth Symphony, but it is not all that easy to detect. Under Danzmayr, the orchestra gave the overture a full-throated performance, with firm trumpet and horn calls, vigorous marches, folk-like passages for the woodwinds, and enthusiastic unisons from the entire ensemble.
Beethoven completed his Piano Concerto No. 5 (Emperor) in 1809 while Vienna was besieged by Napoleonic armies for a second time. Finding the right balance between the lyrical and the heroic is a daunting task for pianists. Although he played with impeccable technique, Bronfman took the first movement quickly and didn’t slow the pace one iota, which reduced the music’s emotional grandeur. The tempo at the beginning of the slow second movement seemed spot on, but then the pianist began to hurry things along, which made his playing feel as if he were impatient. However, the transition into the third movement was ethereal, magical. It seemed that Bronfman had decided to relax a bit and delve more into the dynamics, which made the music sing with a playful, rollicking ease that wrapped up the piece triumphantly.
The audience erupted with a thunderous ovation, and Bronfman responded with an encore, a vigorous rendering of Chopin’s Etude in C Minor, Op. 10, No. 12 (Revolutionary) that included a couple of triple fortes on the lowest notes. That piece definitely echoed the theme of the concert program and brought down the house a second time.
The Oregon Symphony will continue to explore Beethoven’s musical genius in its next classical series concert (Jan. 18-20) with his Symphony No. 7 and Violin Concerto, featuring Clara-Jumi Kang. There’s also a pops concert (Jan. 23) that will tap into connections between Beethoven and Beyoncé. Roll over, Beethoven!
