Karina Canellakis & Bruce Liu
REVIEW: Rising star Karina Canellakis and Tanglewood Festival Chorus highlight final Boston Symphony Orchestra weekend
By Clarence Fanto
Not your typical program: Five works, ranging from 5 to 18 minutes, on one Boston Symphony Orchestra program — a novelty that tested the already well-demonstrated skills of conductor Karina Canellakis, returning to Tanglewood for the third time in four seasons. Indeed, she passed the test triumphantly.
Canellakis, 42, formerly a noted violinist whose summer as a Tanglewood Conducting Fellow in 2014 helped motivate her switch to the podium, has had a meteoric rise as an “in demand” guest conductor at the major American and European orchestras. She’s chief conductor of the Netherland Radio Philharmonic and principal guest conductor at the London Philharmonic.
With the BSO, Saturday night’s performance surely was a highlight of the just-concluded classical season.
After a crisp, high-spirited romp through Beethoven’s overture to The Creatures of Prometheus ballet, Canellakis led the orchestra and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus in a solemnly reverential Schicksalslied (“Song of Destiny”) by Brahms. The work alternates tranquility with a grim outburst reflecting human suffering with a final consolation. This performance captured the score’s turbulent range of emotions.
After intermission, a sharp pivot to the French repertoire, with a double showcase for Canadian violinist James Ehnes, subbing for Leonidas Kavakos, who’s expected to fully recover from a shoulder injury.
…
Likewise, one of the most dramatic showpieces for conductors and orchestras, Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2, in the version that included wordless chorus by the TFC, allowed Canellakis to display the full range of her podium skills. Swooping, swaying, and swashbuckling her way through an eloquent, exuberant yet still refined performance, it demonstrated the strength of every BSO section.
…
In the Shed, Bruce Liu’s BSO debut in Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 was quite impressive. Blending virtuoso chops with sensitivity and delicacy, he offered a masterful interpretation. But guest conductor Ryan Bancroft, also in his first outing with the BSO, opted for a supercharged blast through the extended orchestral passages. Subtlety is not Bancroft’s forte — his athletic podium manner may be at fault. As a result, the overall performance seemed off-kilter.
Liu rewarded the audience’s enthusiasm for his fidelity to Chopin’s intentions with a scintillating encore, the composer’s popular Black Keys Etude, Op. 10, No. 5. Liu’s keyboard command for the challenging right-hand triplets on black keys only, with one exception, while the left hand races through multiple octaves, was mesmerizing.