By Catherine Reese Newton
The Salt Lake Tribune
André Watts has been beloved by Utah audiences ever since his November 1971 Utah Symphony debut; he’s appeared here in each of the five, count ’em, decades since. (It isn’t only Utah that loves Watts: He received a National Medal of Arts earlier this week, though his travel to Salt Lake City prevented him from attending the White House ceremony.) This weekend, sold-out houses in Abravanel Hall have the privilege of hearing Watts’ artistry in one of the most popular of concertos, Rachmaninoff’s Second.
On Friday, Watts asserted his complete mastery of the concerto from its portentous opening bars. Every note that followed came through with clarity as well as deep feeling. That he was able to evoke so much emotion without ever letting the music sound overwrought was a marvel. Of course, the Utah Symphony’s sensitive performance under music director Thierry Fischer had a lot to do with the concerto’s success. The musicians played with an almost unearthly calm at the end of the second movement, providing the perfect setup to the lush romanticism of the finale.
Fischer’s seasonlong Beethoven symphony cycle continues this week with the Fourth. Conventional wisdom holds that Beethoven’s even-numbered symphonies are the easygoing ones, but as Fischer showed, the Fourth simmers with happy energy. The orchestra’s playing was light, fresh and nimble. Especially notable were Tad Calcara’s delicate clarinet solos and Lori Wike’s devilishly fast passages on bassoon.
Sandwiched between the Beethoven and the Rachmaninoff was Stravinsky’s refreshing “Scherzo à la Russe”; the Abravanel Hall stage seemed scarcely big enough to contain its joyful colors.
