Vengerov Opens NY Philharmonic Season

09/22/2004 3:54 PM, AP
Martin Steinberg

Maxim rocks. And he rolls, and he's about to tango. But first, Beethoven.

The great violinist Maxim Vengerov began the New York Philharmonic's 163rd season Tuesday night with Beethoven's sublime violin concerto. The gala concert conducted by music director Lorin Maazel also featured Dvorak's symphony "From the New World." It was a crowd-pleasing program for a nationally televised concert on PBS and an Avery Fisher Hall audience that included Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn, Itzhak and Toby Perlman, Beverly Sills and pianist Emanuel Ax.

The Siberian-born Vengerov, who has been playing the violin for 25 of his 30 years, is in the final months before a yearlong sabbatical. He will be performing in 2005, but only about 20 concerts rather than the 110-120 this year. He has ambitious plans — learn French, Spanish and Italian, drive a Harley across the United States, unshackle his playing by working on improvisation, and learn how to tango.

Not that he's self-absorbed. He has been a musical ambassador for UNICEF since 1997, and donated his five-digit fee from Tuesday's performance to the organization.

"After playing 25 years, ... after already doing a little bit of conducting and playing viola and teaching, I feel the need to study again," he told The Associated Press. "And study other things, like dancing tango, dancing, and improvising, jazz improvisation."

The improvisational training, with jazz violinist Didier Lockwood, is a long-held dream. "I was actually prevented from doing that," said Vengerov, who was trained in the strict Russian classical tradition.

Learning to tango will be necessary for him to perform a viola concerto by Russian composer Benjamin Yusupov. It has elements of baroque, classical, romantic, rock and tango. "At the end of this piece I have to dance tango with partner," Vengerov said in slightly accented English.

At Tuesday's concert, there was no mistaking Vengerov's trademark dancing and sound: a crispness and energy that takes the music to the limit, and a lyric sweetness and sensuousness reflected in his body language, even when he isn't playing.

Eyes closed, he turns his face toward heaven, thrusts his gymnastlike chest and swivels his hips. The man has sex appeal. And he has a mysterious inner power that turns him into a vessel for an immortal composer.

What does he think about when he plays such a masterpiece?

"This is the most miraculous music. It has no ending for searching," he said. "First of all, wisdom came to Beethoven when he wrote this. (In) music by Beethoven you hear a lot of struggle. ... Well in this piece, it's a little bit different. I think he managed to escape all the troubles in the concerto. ... There are no obstacles, absolutely! There is freedom! You know, there is no gravity to anything, you know. It's such a beautiful material to play with. His music is incredibly spiritual."

Vengerov didn't perform the Beethoven until seven years ago, when he played it with the Philharmonic under Kurt Masur. "For me, it was kind of late, because I always kept it for later," Vengerov said. "I felt I wasn't ready."

He will perform it in his last concert before the sabbatical (Dec. 23 in Istanbul, Turkey).

And what will he be thinking during the final notes?

"I'm going to be looking forward to the party, sabbatical party," he said, laughing.

In the other work Tuesday, the Philharmonic gave an energized performance of the "New World Symphony," a piece the orchestra premiered in 1893. Some wind entrances, however, weren't clean, and intonation at times wasn't precise. A poorly timed cough from an audience member at the end of the second movement also disturbed the dying resolution to the beloved "Goin' Home" theme.

Maazel, who celebrates his 75th birthday in March, rode herd in the third movement, and the orchestra kept up the galloping pace. The audience, many of whom were awaiting the gala dinner, loved it. Maazel had the musicians play an encore by Dvorak, who died 100 years ago this year. They did a fine job with it, the less frequently played Op. 72 No. 1 "Slavonic Dance."

The night began with the Philharmonic honoring its retired chairman, Carlos Moseley, on his 90th birthday. He was presented with a Norwich terrier — named Phil.

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On the Net:

http://www.nyphilharmonic.org

http://www.maximvengerov.org/