Newsday, July 2005

NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC. "A Little Nightmare Music," Bramwell Tovey conducting. Attended Thursday at Avery Fisher Hall. Visit www.newyorkphilharmonic.org or call 212-875-5656.

Given the sweltering heat that has gripped our area, New Yorkers seeking shivers have been eyeing meat lockers. Thursday's New York Philharmonic concert stirred up chills of a different kind, from tunes haunted by demons, wizards and the grim reaper himself.

"A Little Nightmare Music" opened the Philharmonic's second season of Summertime Classics concerts. Conducted and introduced by Bramwell Tovey, a wag with a flair for comically dreadful puns—the long-dead Liszt as a "de-composer"—and an affable manner, the program also featured the Philharmonic debut of pianist Marc-André Hamelin.

Renowned as an interpreter of gnarly, finger-blistering works, the mild-looking Hamelin flooded Avery Fisher Hall with kaleidoscopic colors in Liszt's "Totentanz" or "Dance of Death." His hands sprinted up and down the keyboard, unleashing cascades of elaborate runs and booming chords; at other times, he transformed the sound of wood striking metal into dewy splashes and showers of light. In quieter passages, Hamelin’s playing unfolded with stately, introspective grace.

Hamelin, incidentally, plays a solo recital at the Mannes College of Music International Keyboard Institute & Festival on July 30.

Leopold Stokowski's Technicolor transcription of Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor kicked off the fun. The Philharmonic's initial attacks were tepid, but the third statement of the spiky opening theme gave way to the resinous growl of low strings, roaring brass and spine-tingling tremolos. From there, Stokie and gang pressed on in wanton glee to those dark, thickly layered final chords.

Tovey and the Philharmonic offered a morose and saucy reading of Gounod's "Funeral March for a Marionette" and a suave account of Dukas' "Sorcerer's Apprentice," whose diaphanous sonorities and shrieking climax were pervaded by the whoosh of magic and whispers of forces unseen.

The Philharmonic played Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain" in Rimsky-Korsakov's sugary arrangement. Alas, that last month's stunning Los Angeles Philharmonic performance of Mussorgsky's rugged original forever spoiled Rimsky’s emendations for this writer. What was this sanitized-for-your-protection stuff so genteelly played by our local band?

The fluttery phrases of Liszt's second "Mephisto Waltz" suggested both quickening heartbeats and the mischief of diabolical forces.

Trees and a backdrop showing the Manhattan nightscape graced Avery Fisher Hall's stage, allowing audience members to enjoy the illusion of an outdoor performance in climate-controlled bliss. But for purists who insist on music under the stars and on the grass, the Philharmonic offers free concerts in East Islip’s Heckscher State Park, all five boroughs and New Jersey, July 12-19.

In the meantime, Summertime Classics continue at Lincoln Center with music for the young at heart (including Britten's "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra") Thursday and Friday and a "Soirée Française" to launch Bastille Day hoopla next weekend.