Gergiev/LSO in all Prokofiev program @ S.F.'s Davies Hall

[barry guerrero]

Gergiev/LSO sounded excellent in an all Prokofiev program at S.F.'s Davies Hall last Sunday: the "Classical" symphony (#1); piano concerto #4 (left hand; for Wittgenstein); symphony #6. The true revelation for me was the 6th symphony. For once, it lived up to the greatness of Prokofiev's previous symphony (#5, obviously). Anyway, the LSO sounded terrific in Davies Hall; much better than they usually sound in the dry and shallow acoustics of The Barbican. I won't go as far as to say that they sound better than the SFSO, but they certainly come right up to them. I'll tell you one thing, the LSO horn section takes a lot more risks than the "play-it-safe" San Franciscans do. I really liked Gergiev's seating plan.

Gergiev placed the double basses along the back wall, behind the cellos. The cellos were placed just inside of the first violins, and the second violins were seated across from the firsts- where celli are normally placed. The basses were stronger than what one hears on their Barbican recordings, but the celli were still a little "watery" for my taste. I thought that their best sub-section amongst the strings were the violas - they really stood out. But on the whole, the LSO strings did fairly well with Prokofiev's difficult and exposed, high tessitura writing for the violins. The LSO woodwinds were much better than what I remember from previous decades. Their principal bassoon was especially good. Their clarinets were far better than they used to be. Another nice feature was that Gergiev separated the horns from the other brass.

The horns were given their own space behind the celli (and in front of the basses). As a result, they could really hear themselves, so they took plenty of risks. This is a truly gutsy horn section that isn't afraid blast out in the slightest. The rest of the brass were perfectly decent too. They were arced around the other side, behind the violas and second violins (where double basses are normally placed). The bass trombone and tuba were particularly good. As loud as they played, there were no chipped notes from the brass throughout the entire evening.

Gergiev is often thought of as a  somewhat insensitive conductor who's best at fast and loud passages. There's some truth to that, but I think it's more complicated than just that. I really sense a guiding intelligence behind what he does (unlike Solti!). Tempo relationships make sense to me, and I really liked his seating plan. Regardless, he really knows his stuff when it comes to Prokofiev.

Oddly enough, the last time that I saw a "guest" orchestra at Davies Hall, they also performed the Prokofiev 6th. It was the Czech Phil. under Ashkenazy. As good as the Czech Phil. were, Gergiev/LSO were far better in this particular work. Again, it was the best I've ever heard this piece - live or recorded.

By the way, the 4th is a decent piano concerto. It really should get played more often.

Barry