Comments about ‘Guest pianist shows prowess with Brahms’

I must disagree as to the your comments regarding the symphony. It is true that he favored quick tempos, but not throughout. The opening movement was a bit quicker than most, but not overly so. The final movement was the quickest, but there was a great deal of contrast between the variations. To call the interpretation one-dimensional is unfair both to the orchestra and Mr. Zukerman. I left the concert feeling that it was the best performance of the Utah Symphony that I have heard in many years.

I have to agree with Mr. Reichel on the interpretation of the Brahms Sympony No. 4, at least as heard on Saturday.

Although the guest conductor, Mr. Zukerman, helped elicit a warm, smooth string sound, his interpretation came across as almost uniformly bland and monochrome in color. However, the interpretation was sincere and Zukerman did try to put it across warmly. Where they could, members of the orchestra added color, as in the wind playing in the third movement.

The Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 came across much better as both a performance and interpretation. Zukerman, the orchestra, and the pianist, Jonathan Biss, made it compelling and brought the audience deeply into the work as it unfolded.

The argument that few world-class soloists deliver consistently compelling and insightful interpretations as conductors is an intriguing and provocative one. Although Mr. Zukerman has been music director of Ottawa's National Arts Centre Orchestra since 1998, his performance as conductor in my book ranks as the most disappointing one this season. But the audience enjoyed the performances, and that is always crucial.

Nevertheless, guest conductors Carlos Kalmar, Emmanuel Villaume, Matthias Bamert, and Julian Kuerti all elicited more impressive performances this season.