Milwaukee Symphony unleashes power of Bernstein and Brahms

Guest conductor Michael Francis led a Milwaukee Symphony program Friday of two fascinatingly different symphonies: Leonard Bernstein’s consuming Symphony No. 2 (“The Age of Anxiety”) and Johannes Brahms’ intense, mercurial Symphony No. 1.

Pianist Joyce Yang joined the orchestra for the Bernstein, which, despite its title, is a virtuosic concerto for piano and orchestra.

Yang juxtaposed fire and delicacy throughout, moving from thunderous power to achingly beautiful, fragile sounds. Her range of dynamics was further defined by endlessly shifting colors of sound, with which she picked up threads of the complex sonic tapestry Bernstein created for the orchestra.   

Yang's bold, decisive, declamatory statements carried her musical intent to the back of the hall. In other spots she turned to face the players and created intensely introspective sounds that pulled the audience into the fine details of her interpretation.

Francis and the orchestra juxtaposed evocative sounds and textures, from the haunting clarinet that opened the piece to fearless, striding, almost stomping moments later.    

Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 proved the perfect complement to the Bernstein. The crux of the Bernstein, according to the composer, is the “difficult and problematic search for faith.” The crux of the Brahms is the difficult and looming presence of Beethoven’s genius that Brahms felt so strongly that it took him two decades to complete this work, which is tellingly referred to as “Beethoven’s Tenth Symphony.”

Francis and the orchestra captured what amount to the two personalities of the Brahms, contrasting Beethovenesque flashes of mercurial temperament and expressive outbursts with moments of reveling in the long, expressive, beautifully crafted phrases and elegant transitions that are quintessentially Brahms’ style.

They treated the Brahms not as something dear and revered, but as a vital, invigorating musical experience through an unhurried yet urgent performance.

Together, they made the exquisite architecture of the piece clear to the audience, gracefully dovetailing melodies and harmonies and taking ample time with expressive melodies, despite a little unsettled communication near the middle of the piece.

The Milwaukee Symphony will repeat this program at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Marcus Center's Uihlein Hall. 929 N. Water St. Visit www.mso.org or call (414) 273-7206.