Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra
Masterworks Series
Indiana History Center
May 10

Three masterworks masterfully played ended the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra’s season last Saturday, very nicely augmented by a young virtuoso violinist who dazzled the Basile Theater audience. Philippe Quint, 34, a native of St. Petersburg, Russia, dominated the stage with Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 26. ICO music director Kirk Trevor opened with Brahms’ equally popular Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Op. 56a and closed with one of the greatest, most beautiful of Haydn’s 104 symphonies, No. 102 in B-flat — not as popular as it should be.

Many folks will recall that the Indianapolis Symphony had opened a recent program with the Brahms Haydn Variations, but in addition had added choreography — with the dancing so sexy it stole my attention from the music. This time I enjoyed a full frontal presentation of Op. 56a, and realized what a distraction the choreography had been.

Brahms’ eight variations and Finale were composed on a theme originally entitled the St. Anthony Chorale, which in Brahms’ time was attributed to Haydn as it appears in one of his wind serenades. Trevor and his 33 players moved through the piece with elan and purposeful precision, the winds being especially prominent in an ensemble with a reduced string complement.

Bruch’s G Minor Violin Concerto is clearly “in” these days; everybody and his brother seem to be performing it. A Romantic work through and through, the last two movements catch hold the most. But Quint caught our attention with his first bowing shortly after the work begins. The Russian-turned-American delivers a penetrating but well controlled vibrato, in addition to playing on a Strad which practically covered the orchestra in many spots. One got the sense of bravura playing no matter what the passage mood may evoke.

The Adagio movement was taken fast enough to be termed an andante (i.e. at a walking pace) — and just excessive enough to lose some of its serenity. However, the Finale: Allegro energetico captured the movement’s essence. Quint offered two encores, both of which highlighted his virtuosic dazzle, perhaps to an extreme.

Haydn’s last six “London” symphonies — those he supplied while visiting the British capital in 1794-5 — represent the apex of the Austrian composer’s symphonic art. Were it not for two or three by Mozart in the 1780s, Haydn’s would have been unapproachable as 18th century versions of the form. His No. 102, in my view, ranks with No. 104 as being at the composer’s symphonic summit. In fact, no symphony from the 19th century exceeds these in beauty and emotional fulfillment. Trevor’s reading was excellent for bringing out the ensemble textures. We missed nothing.