NEWARK STAR-LEDGER
January 24, 2004

Masur's joyful reunion
by Willa J. Conrad

Music directors who return to their former podiums often have the advantage: gone are the tensions and strains of a powerful post, gone are conflicts with musicians and administrators over future musical direction. What's left is often an unhindered, purely musical interaction between familiar partners that can be an audience's delight.  

Such was the case Thursday at Avery Fisher Hall, when music director emeritus Kurt Masur opened the final of three programs he has been conducting with his former muse, the New York Philharmonic. He came bearing his best repertoire, Beethoven and Mendelssohn, and the orchestra responded at its best, with rich sonorities and a near virtuosic unity of ensemble.

Another benefit of a visit: bringing along one's favorite soloists. So it was that violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, a longtime musical partner of Masur's, was on hand to play the U.S. premiere of Henri Dutilleux's "Sur le meme accord" ("About a single chord"), written for Masur's 75th birthday in 2002. The composer, who celebrated his own 88th birthday Thursday, took an on-stage bow and was greeted with "Happy Birthday" played by the orchestra. Such are the valentines exchanged among the musical mighty.

But first, there was a different premiere, the North American debut of a new trio Mutter has formed with her husband, pianist and composer André Previn, and cellist Lynn Harrell. They played Beethoven's Triple Concerto, with Masur expertly tucking the orchestra around them. One theory is that the pianist typically rules in a trio, controlling from the multi-voice keyboard the general texture and direction of a performance. Not so Thursday, with Previn a pale, at times barely audible accompaniment to the dynamic interaction taking place between Harrell and Mutter. The match of tonal quality between the two, the intelligent, even witty, musical dialogue paired Mutter's meticulous technique and sweet, projecting tone with Harrell's heartier sound and playful sense of phrasing. Previn's articulation and musical presence was blurred and indistinct compared to their vivid duet.

The trio, on a U.S. tour, will give a chamber performance at Newark's New Jersey Performing Arts Center on April 16.

Dutilleux's "Accord" has a semi-mystical feeling, with the solo violin cast as the supplicant against a backdrop of shimmering chords and delightful coloristic effects for woodwinds and brass playing at times in atypical pitch ranges. It's short -- maybe seven minutes or so -- but manages to traverse five separate moods that pour into each other seamlessly. Mutter was a puckish presence, alternating silvery spooling lines with brightly skipping faster sections, while Masur had the rapidly shifting orchestral textures cleanly, if somewhat stiffly, laid out.

More of a taste test than a full meal, the Dutilleux piece was followed by Mendelssohn's Third Symphony ("Scottish"), and here the orchestra's string section offered that gorgeous, golden sound that became Masur's most significant legacy. Tensions were so high at Masur's unwilling leavetaking two years ago that it was unclear for a while what, if any, future relationship the ensemble might have with him. It appears now that all parties have moved on, with the happy result that Masur's return visits, like this carefully curated one, might be more happy reminiscence than bitter regret.