Bradley Symphony Center sign
Photo: Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra - Facebook
It’s a new year at the Milwaukee Symphony, and at the magnificent Bradley Symphony Center. At the first notes of Wynton Marsalis’ Herald, Holler, and Hallelujah!, the hall positively exploded with sound. This fanfare for brass had bold harmonies, fun energy, and moments of quiet reflection. It ended with blasts of jazzy swagger, all very finely played by the symphony brass and percussion.
A different kind of swagger arrived when the Naughton sisters, Christina and Michelle, played Mendelssohn’s Two-Piano Concerto. The orchestra offered a crisp reading of the exposition before the Naughtons took all attention away. Call it the sibling factor, but their ability to perfectly trade off phrases and stay in sync in unison passages was simply uncanny. They also made this extremely difficult music sound effortless. Mendelssohn wrote this piece at age 14, so the Naughtons’ light touch perfectly brought to life this music from a young prodigy exploring his skills. As an encore the sisters offered a movement of Ravel’s Mother Goose suite.
After the excitement of the concerto, Strauss’ Alpine Symphony promised even higher peaks. This classic tone poem for large orchestral forces narrates a day spent climbing a mountain, including misadventures like getting caught in a storm. The emotional heart of the piece is the section “On the summit” (as one might expect). In this performance, oboist Katherine Young Steele delivered a poignant solo, each note like velvet. But the climax with the full orchestra felt a bit rushed; it would have been nice to bask in that Alpine glory for longer.
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One highlight was the buildup to the thunderstorm section. Conductor Ken-David Masur shaped this material well and it was exciting to see a percussionist cranking a wind machine up in the choir loft. And in the coda, every orchestral group shone in their respective moments with the piece’s themes.
It was a strong season opener, offering virtuosic star power and an orchestra that could handle a piece as ambitious as the Strauss. Maybe in the future Maestro Masur can indulge for longer in those moments that make us feel on top of the world.
