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Beethoven's Symphony No. 4 is like a tender-hearted middle child flanked by boisterous siblings with outsized personalities. The graceful Fourth Symphony was born in 1806, between Beethoven's passionate "Eroica" Symphony and his legendary Symphony No. 5, with its famous "da-da-da-DUM."
Little wonder, then, that gentle No. 4 has a hard time getting the attention it deserves. Utah Symphony music director Thierry Fischer hopes to correct that injustice at this weekend's Abravanel Hall concerts.
The program includes plenty in the way of famous crowd-pleasers, after all. Rachmaninoff's ever-popular Second Piano Concerto will be performed by one of the world's best-known pianists, André Watts.
Watts was still in his teens when conductor Leonard Bernstein asked him to fill in for an ailing Glenn Gould at a New York Philharmonic concert in 1963. The young pianist's magnificent performance of Liszt's E-flat Concerto was followed by a thunderous ovation that brought the entire orchestra to its feet, launching his storied career.
Watts has performed with the Utah Symphony more times than he can count. And he has been playing Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto since the earliest days of his long career, apart from a 12-year break from the piece during the middle of his career.
Maturity has brought him a fresh view of the concerto. "I think of the piece less now as a virtuoso showpiece," Watts said. "The virtuosity that's there is there, of course. Rachmaninoff was a great pianist, and he did write if for himself, and for his hands. But, with the passage of time, I look at the piece more orchestrally — more like a symphony with a gigantic piano part."
Watts said that for a high Romantic concerto, Rachmaninoff's Second has a surprising amount of intimate interplay between the piano and orchestra.
"It has so many opportunities for what I would call chamber music," Watts said. "Lots of opportunities for clarinet solos, oboe solos, flute solos."
The well-known melodies that have made the concerto such a favorite often are stated by the orchestra or a solo instrument first, then reiterated by the piano, Watts said. The piano solo passages are thrilling, but it is the rich interlacing of orchestral textures in the luxuriant showpiece that keeps the piece fresh for him now.
The classical purity of Beethoven's Fourth Symphony offsets the concerto's lush passion. "The Fourth Symphony was written at a very happy time in Beethoven's life," Fischer said. "He was in love. And for me, this is the symphony about love — personal love."
The work's second movement, especially, reminds Fischer of a love letter, even down to the beating heart he hears in the second violin section's insistent rhythmic underplay: "Da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM."
Contrary to the assumptions of many, the tuneful Fourth Symphony is more difficult to play than Beethoven's more blustery later works, Fischer said. Perfecting Nos. 9, 8, 7, 6 and 5 has prepared the players for the detail, nuance and sonic transparency Fischer expects from them.
Fischer admires the unique personality of Symphony No. 4 and hopes listeners will rejoice in Beethoven's ability to do the unexpected. "Beethoven wasn't like Haydn, who wrote 104 symphonies that all have almost the same form," Fischer said. "Haydn was less inventive, less revolutionary. Beethoven wrote nine symphonies, and they are all completely different."
Vive la différence!
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Mega-Watts
Renowned pianist André Watts will perform with the Utah Symphony and music director Thierry Fischer.
When • Friday and Saturday, Feb. 17 and 18, 8 p.m.
Where • Abravanel Hall, 123 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City.
Tickets • $20-$55 ($5 more on concert day), at 801-355-ARTS or usuo.org. Student discounts available. Season subscribers and those desiring group discounts, call 801-533-NOTE.