Review: Pianist, orchestra play parts in good start

The Minnesota Orchestra's 2007-2008 classical season opener on Thursday night at Orchestra Hall was a truly festive occasion. The evening featured beloved pianist Emanuel Ax in Frederic Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21 and one of the great orchestral showpieces, Gustav Holst's "The Planets," Suite for Large Orchestra, Op. 32.

The evening began with an unusual bit of theatricality in John Corigliano's 1981 "Promenade" Overture. The musicians started offstage, playing a lively fanfare, and Corigliano choreographed their entrances, like a reverse of the Haydn "Farewell" Symphony.

The effect was compromised by the orchestra having already been onstage to play "The Star-Spangled Banner." But the gimmick blossomed into a movement of lyrical beauty, which justified the novelty.

In the Chopin, Ax proved to be the quintessential romantic. This is a young man's work, written when Chopin was only 19, and Ax was not afraid to wear his heart on his sleeve.

He was at his best in the second movement, reminiscent of bel canto opera, playing the dazzling coloratura and the meltingly lyrical cantilena with passion and precision. The dramatic interplay with the orchestra in the third movement was thrilling, while Ax's playing of the folk song-like melodies was utterly natural and unaffected. Throughout, he held the audience rapt.

"The Planets" was the orchestra's show. Even in the most overblown passages, they performed with great virtuosity. If music director Osmo Vänskä couldn't completely avoid all the work's inherent bombast, at least he kept it from sounding like a badly overwrought film score.

The relentlessness of the opening movement, "Mars, the Bringer of War," was appropriately brutal -- and deafening. The contrasting lyricism of "Venus, the Bringer of Peace" and the chamber-like transparency of "Mercury, the Winged Messenger" brought a much-appreciated subtlety.

Even brilliant playing could not keep the extreme effects of "Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity," from sounding leaden. The understated poignancy of "Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age" was followed by "Uranus, the Magician," technically demanding, but ultimately superficial.

The finale, "Neptune, the Mystic," was original and heartfelt. With the excellent contribution by the women of the Minnesota Chorale, it brought the work to an effective close. An eighth movement, "Pluto, the Renewer," by British composer Colin Matthews, was an unnecessary addition.

Nothing on the program was particularly profound, but it got the Minnesota Orchestra season off to a rousing start.

William Randall Beard is a Minneapolis writer.