Brilliant young talent at the MSO this weekend

Conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong introduced violinist Augustin Hadelich as “one of the greatest violinists of my generation” at Friday’s Milwaukee Symphony concert. The 20-something Hadelich proved him right, with a completely engrossing rendition of Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5.

Hadelich didn’t have the chance to return the compliment, and Lecce-Chong of course wouldn’t say such a thing about himself. The MSO’s 20-something assistant conductor didn’t have to – he had just made a strong case with a remarkable reading of R. Strauss’ Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks. Lecce-Chong, conducting from memory and supremely confident, led an acutely alert and responsive orchestra through Strauss’ mercurial 15-minute tone poem. Lecce-Chong attended to every strand in Strauss’ densely woven texture, and his players rewarded him by investing all of them with vivid character. This Till Eulenspiegel burst with energy on the large scale and beguiled with subtlety on the small scale.

The same applied to a suite (Opus 59c) from Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier. Like the tone poem, the opera suite is virtuoso orchestra music that showed off the MSO’s dazzling skill. This is glamorous music, and Lecce-Chong celebrated that glamour with extravagant dynamics and phrases that burst into bloom. Glamour is part of the suite and the opera upon which it is based. The other part is a sweet nostalgia, of acknowledgement of the passage of time and of life. Lecce-Chong understood that aspect of the music, too. He lingered and lingered and allowed the energy of the Ochs Waltzes to gather ever so slowly, as if the aging Baron were building up strength for an autumnal run at both the Viennese waltz and the young ladies.

More Mozart, the overture and the rarely heard dances from the opera Idomeneo, preceded Rosenkavalier. The stage resets between the Classical Mozart orchestra and Strauss’ large Romantic orchestra gave the articulate Lecce-Chong a chance to note the kinship between the two composers. For one thing, Strauss adored Mozart and loved conducting Idomeneo in particular. In light of Lecce-Chong’s remarks, and in spite of the obvious differences in the sound of the music of the two composers, some connections between the two operas emerged. In the end, they are both humane in their messages. And both Mozart and Strauss set out to compose blockbuster operas in these cases.

Lecce-Chong underscored his point by leaving the dainty, Classical Mozart behind and playing these bits of Idomeneo as big music. The “rockets” at the outset of the overture shot out of the orchestra at high velocity, as if escaping the notably massive weight of the basses. The dances that followed were intense rather than polite. Lecce-Chong’s point is that Idomeneo is a melodramatic potboiler rather than a lofty tale of gods and goddesses, and he made it stick.

Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5, on the other hand, represents Classical charm and refinement. Hadelich got that exactly, in a poised, arch performance that was all about making elegance look effortless. This is draw-you-in music, not bowl-you-over music. Hadelich’s beautiful sound, finely shaded dynamics, accents and timbres, and feel for the placement of his melodies within the orchestra’s harmonies drew us in. Elegance is a pleasing facade; Mozart and Hadelich allowed us not only to enjoy that facade but also to peek behind it and feel the poignancy of the fleeting little ache of a melody working against a chord.

Hadelich, a thoughtful sort of virtuoso, wrote his own cadenzas. He gave them a Baroque cast, with hints of continuo worked in among the reconsiderations of Mozart’s material, as if Bach were commenting on the concerto. Very clever.

The Concerto No. 5  is no jump-to-your-feet virtuoso showpiece. To its credit, the crowd did jump to its feet at the end and thus demonstrate that the world of subtlety Mozart and Hadelich bestowed was not lost on a matinee audience. So we earned an encore, Paganini’s Caprice No. 24. This is a jump-to-your-feet virtuoso showpiece, and Hadelich’s spectacular performance ended the affair with an even more spirited ovation.

This program, given at Marcus Center’s Uihlein Hall, will be repeated at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 4. For tickets and further information, call the Marcus Center box office, 414 273-7206, or visit the Milwaukee Symphony website.

Next Up for the MSO: Lecce-Chong conducts and MSO violinist Jennifer Startt is featured in music by Prokofiev, Weinberg and Vaughan Williams at the Basilica of St. Josephat, 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday May 17-18.