The Orchestra of St. at Carnegie Hall, March 21, 2010

Reviewed by Bill Breakstone, Somers, New York

The Orchestra of St. Luke’s has been the resident ensemble for the Caramoor Musical Festival in Katonah, New York for the past 31 years. Being a supporter of Caramoor, I have been very familiar with the artistic excellence of this ensemble. Many of its artists also contribute to various New York ensembles, including The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and an ensemble that has performed at The Metropolitan Museum of Art under the direction of Kent Trittle. They presented a three-year series of Bach Cantatas at that venue. Many of these artists have also joined in chamber music presentations under the direction of Anthony Neumann at Bedford’s St. Matthews Church Chamber Hall, a delightful and intimate hall for such concerts.

Their concert at Carnegie Hall this past Sunday involved a full complement of chamber orchestra forces, led by Christian Zacharias, an internationally acclaimed artist who came to the forefront of musical attention first as a pianist in the mid-1970s, and subsequently as an orchestral conductor in the early 1990s. I had the pleasure of attending a performance he led by The New York Philharmonic several years ago in a classical program featuring compositions of Hayden and Mozart, which were quite delightful.

Yesterday’s fare was somewhat more diversified, and presented a three-movement symphony by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto in C Minor, a brief but engaging work for brass and woodwinds by Bernd Alois Zimmermann and Robert Schumann’s Rhenish Symphony, No. 3 in E-Flat Major.

The C. P .E. Bach work was masterly crafted, as one would expect given the composer’s pedigree, but lacking in both melodic
inspiration and musical substance. An early Hayden or Mozart Symphony, such as the G Minor No. 25 or “The Paris” would have been far more worthwhile.

Beethoven’s C Minor Concerto has always been one of my favorites, and the performance by soloist and orchestra was a joy to hear. One would think that a pianist would have his hands full just giving credit to the keyboard part, but Zacharias handled the dual role of soloist and pianist with no trouble at all. His keyboard performance was all one could hope for, and the orchestral accompaniment was lovingly rendered, though the enthusiasm of the kettle drum player at the conclusion of both the first and last movement could have been brought more into balance with the rest of the orchestra.

The Zimmermann “Rheinische Kirmestance’ is a brief work written for 13 winds and brass. The five dance movements are reminiscent of Richard Strauss’ “Die Bourgeois Gentilhome’, with a little of Stravinsky and Poulenc thrown in for good measure. It highlighted the excellent St. Luke’s wind and brass players, and proved a thoroughly enjoyable divertissement.

Which brings us to the concluding work, Robert Schumann’s Third Symphony in E-Flat Major. This is one of those works that immediately engages the listener from the first notes onward. There is no solemn introduction, just a flat out melodic statement of the principal theme followed by the usual classical format. But what wonderful melodic inspiration and finely crafted scoring. Our conductor’s reading was lyrical and incisive, brisk but not too rushed, and the orchestra’s playing impeccable.

All in all, a wonderful afternoon of music, and another example of how fortunate we New Yorker’s are to have such wonderful ensembles to enjoy music making at its best.