From Deseret News archives:
Guest conductor, soloist unimpressive with Utah Symphony
Soloist this weekend is Gunilla Sussmann, playing Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major, K. 503. She exhibited fine technique and occasionally good musical sense, but her reading of the work was anything but stylistically appealing.
She and Solyom went for the big sound. This was a very romantic approach to the piece, and depending on one's taste, one could argue whether it truly represented Mozart. Nor did it help that there was a fairly large orchestra deployed, much larger than the norm for the late 18th century.
What can't be argued is that at Friday's performance both the soloist and the conductor were grandstanding. While Mozart's intent with this work certainly tended to the grandiose, their interpretation was overdone and overblown. The music lost all its clarity and clean lines — elements that are so essential to Mozart. Instead, the interpretation offered by Sussmann and Solyom was frequently heavy-handed and ponderous and lacked tonal definition.
Sibelius' Symphony No. 1 in E minor was the other major work on the program. Solyom's account was characterized by a lack of control and common sense. It sounded as if the orchestra had run amok.
Missing was any clearly defined structure and orchestral color. Solyom's reading was consistently a hodgepodge of noise. It was a free-for-all with each section of the orchestra competing against each other as to who could play the loudest.
The only good thing about Friday's performance was principal clarinet Tad Calcara's lovely first movement solo.
There was one bright spot, though. The concert opened with a wonderfully crafted reading of Britten's early Sinfonietta. Scored for 10 woodwind and string instruments, the principal players gave a radiant reading that glowed with youthful vibrancy and spirit.
E-mail: ereichel@desnews.com
