United States Batiashvili Plays Beethoven: Lisa Batiashvili (violin), Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra / Robin Ticciati (conductor). Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, 5.1.2025. (LV)
Dvořák – Prague Waltzes, B.99; Symphony No.8 in G main, Op.88, B.163
Beethoven – Violin Concerto in D main, Op.61
[Jim Pritchard for S&H: this is a review of a concert obviously shortly before fires began to threaten the LA area, our thoughts are with those who have suffered loss in this tragedy for the city and their families and friends.]
Lisa Batiashvili’s return to Los Angeles in Beethoven’s Violin Concerto drew a big contingent of critics to Walt Disney Concert Hall on Sunday afternoon. Her efficiency, paired with Robin Ticciati’s conducting of Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony, demonstrated why.
From the crisp opening of the double basses and cellos crunching their first 4 notes alongside the eloquent timpanist, Ticciati used the decreased string ensemble (10-8-6-5-3) to outstanding impact. His meticulously timed course and highly effective rhetorical pause within the introduction set the stage for Batiashvili’s entrance. Her interpretation proved remarkably constant along with her memorable 2002 Hollywood Bowl efficiency, whereas revealing new depths of inventive looking out.
Batiashvili’s strategy was lean, athletic, and heat. She wielded weight and bow pace with masterful management, superbly synchronizing with orchestral climaxes. As Ticciati balanced the five-note motif’s prominence with out overpowering, the bassoons had been beautiful, almost crooning, and Batiashvili spun triplets like silken webs of sound. Though sustaining good composure, she appeared to harbor a want for even better momentum.
The sluggish motion prevented its frequent destiny of frozen stillness, as a substitute glowing with the purity of Batiashvili’s tone and imaginative sweep. While the woodwinds and brass emerged too prominently within the central part, and right here the bassoon may have used extra vibrato, the pizzicato strings created moments of particular intimacy.
Despite a short horn mishap after the cadenza and an unwelcome cellphone interruption, Batiashvili launched into an electrifying finale that left the orchestra breathless. Though the bagpipe drone part verged on shedding management, she concluded with the identical triumphant spirit that marked her efficiency 20 years in the past.
After the intermission, Ticciati revealed his profound understanding of Dvořák’s idiom within the composer’s Prague Waltzes. Under his course, the woodwinds discovered simply the appropriate rustic tones, whereas the brass conjured photos of a Czech village sq.. The strings maintained a silky, luxuriant high quality all through.
Ticciati crafted a studying of the Eighth Symphony that was each meticulously sculpted and explosively dynamic. First Associate Concertmaster Nathan Cole’s solo within the sluggish motion achieved candy perfection, even within the double-stops. The orchestra managed the uncommon feat of attaining the rating’s marked pianissimo earlier than the French horn name – a element usually ignored in efficiency.
The Allegretto grazioso moved at a super flowing tempo, although its Trio part missed some important magic with overly reserved woodwinds. In the finale (Allegro ma non troppo), daring trumpet calls heralded a considerably uneven primary theme, however the cellos introduced shifting eloquence to the ultimate variation earlier than an unconventional but superb conclusion.
While Ticciati’s Dvořák proved deeply satisfying, one may want the LA Philharmonic would discover the composer’s less-frequently carried out symphonies – significantly the Third by Sixth – in future seasons. Still, this mixture of Batiashvili’s masterful Beethoven and Ticciati’s vibrant Dvořák demonstrated orchestral music-making at its best.
Laurence Vittes