Last night’s Toronto Symphony Orchestra concert left me enthralled. I must admit I’ve been lucky, the symphony concerts and operas I’ve been attending in Toronto lately have been excellent.
An absolutely enormous composition – Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8, was front and centre, conducted by Peter Oundjian. (An appetizer was offered, Bach’s piano concerto in D Minor – Jeremy Denk played a beautifully brisk version of this, backed by a chamber sized group).
After the Bach, an expanded TSO tore into the Bruckner in a very elegant way. I was watching and listening from up close. A great deal of “sweating the details†went into the preparation of this concert and it really paid off. I believe this piece is the longest or second-longest symphony in existence, and all of the forces kept up a wonderful standard, all the way through. While horns are the mainstay of this piece, I was sitting in awe of the string playing, which was outrageously beautiful.
The volume, at times, was just fierce. Thrilling for the most part but I was fearing an earache after --- I didn’t get one. (Do you ever wonder how the players fare being constantly exposed to these volumes? They probably appreciate that Bruckner isn’t done every week). Which brings around the attendance, the hall just over one-half full for this fantastic music. It is true that “Bruckner’s 8th†may sound a bit exotic to some people, but once you hear it you’ll go back again for it. I believe that Bruckner has the place that Wagner had years ago in Toronto -- still winning over converts. The weather was foul, to say the least, and that may be part of the reason for the poor turnout. I detected a strong German and Austrian presence in the audience, this is their music and they devour it whole.
The interpreting by Oundjian was fabulous. Overall there may have been one or two places where I didn’t think the pieces fit, but that is a small complaint, this work is hugely complex, and it was magic. The audience gave up a very prolonged ovation, one of the longest and most respectful I’ve seen here, in fact. My partner and I stood and applauded for what seemed like an eternity after the final downbeat. A quality audience made up for the empty seats.
