Myung-Whun Chung and Garrick Ohlsson in Weber. Barber’s Piano Concerto, and Tchaikovsky’s “Pathétique,” by Charles Warren

Myung Whun Chung

Boston Symphony Orchestra
November 10, 2011, Thursday 8:00 pm
Symphony Hall

Myung-Whun Chung, conductor
Garrick Ohlsson, piano

Weber ‑ Overture to Der Freischütz
Barber ‑ 
Piano Concerto
Tchaikovsky ‑ 
Symphony No. 6, Pathétique

Many things go toward the making of great conducting—knowledge of music and of how people play instruments; ability to communicate to orchestra musicians, through both technical and less tangible means; the inspiring of respect; a way with audiences and a sense of what will reach them. Much else, no doubt. Most important, in the end, is vision—a considered and impassioned sense of just how a work of music should sound and move and take shape, with a determination to elicit this from an orchestra and put it across to listeners. Here we go beyond the playing of a score, however expert and in however proper a style. The piece and the performance speak, every detail a part of the whole, and all proceeding from a deep human center. Myung-Whun Chung brought the Boston Symphony Orchestra to this level of performance with the Tchaikovsky "Pathétique" Symphony in the current series of concerts.

Read the full review
 on the Berkshire Review, an International Journal for the Arts!









(download)