In an interview in the program book, guest conductor James Gaffigan says that Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony "is his grandest ... it has everything in it [and] will show the musicians in an incredible light." So this is a conductor who sounds minded not to trip up and let this lyrical yet motoric work go flat and drab, as too often happens.
And he succeeded. It was fast enough, loud enough, energetic enough, tight enough, implacable enough, bristling enough, everything you want it to be. Except that somehow it wasn't exciting enough. It did all this without dazzling the listener. MTT or EPS would have dazzled. Except for the finale, which did kind of get there ... (I'm trying to avoid fire metaphors; right now isn't the time).
Also on the program, Barber's Violin Concerto with Ray Chen, who played with a tone that was constantly variable but always somewhere in the middle of the violin's possibilities - never high or shrieky, never low or growling. I was reminded of the person who said that, politically, "I'm a moderate man - a violently moderate man." A little more violence would have done Chen some good: he wasn't always powerful enough either. Still, a dedicated job.
And Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres) by Missy Mazzoli, a curtain-raiser in typical Mazzoli style, shimmering and drooping draperies of string sound, quietly backed by winds and brass, with clattering percussion thumps (also backed by winds and brass) laid over on top.
This was my first trip up to the City in two months (and my first symphony concert in almost that long, blame the holidays) and it felt a little nostalgically retro to make the trip, the more so as I had to scout out the Richmond district for zones that don't have a two-hour parking restriction on weekday daytimes for the upcoming conference. Found 'em, too.
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