Because of Denver’s relative isolation and lack of a big- budget arts presenter, visits by touring symphony orchestras virtually never happen.
Given this extreme rarity, anticipation ran high for Wednesday evening’s performance by the Russian National Orchestra as part of the University of Denver’s Newman Center Presents series, and it did not disappoint.
Making a stop here as part of a 13-city, cross-country tour that will take it to Chicago and New York City, this major international orchestra was nothing short of stupendous.
Vladimir Jurowski, the orchestra’s 35-year-old principal guest conductor, has generated much buzz in the classical world, and it is easy to understand why. Right from the intense, unsettled opening of Johannes Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15, it was clear that he is something special.
He shaped an interpretation of this massive work that was bold and utterly alive, especially the orchestra’s forceful version of the massive, often turbulent first movement that overshadowed all else. He emphasized the sharp shifts in emotions, assuring that the big moments were, indeed, big.
Guest soloist Stephen Hough can always be counted on for a first-rate performance. But Wednesday evening, the English pianist (wearing impossible-to-miss red shoes) seemed to get caught in Jurowski’s spell like everyone else, kicking into a kind of turbocharged mode.
In near-perfect sync with the conductor at every moment, he elicited an extraordinarily wide spectrum of sounds from the piano, ranging from ephemeral, barely audible shadings in some of the slow sections to huge, explosive outbursts.
Many of the things that could be said about the concerto were also applicable to the orchestra’s equally intense, in-the-moment performance of Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s famed Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74, “Pathetique.”
Once again, especially in the lingering, brooding first movement, Jurowski maximized the drama in every shift in mood, texture and tempo, squeezing the most out of even the most easily overlooked transition.
There was not a moment of letdown in this performance. Simply put, it was an unforgettable evening.
Kyle MacMillan: 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com
