The Fredösphere

I suppose I am supposed to write a review of Wednesday's concert by the lahti Symphony. Frankly, I haven't yet figured out reviewing, and the negative aspect is dismaying: most of us lack the megaphone to make any difference by what we write, and those few who do must (or should) fear the destructive power they wield.

So to minimize the negligible, let me just quickly say Louis Lortie is a great pianist, and the Lahti is a great orchestra. Maybe they could have played a bit more crisply in a couple spots, but they redeemed all by ending the First Prokofiev Piano Concerto with a resounding bloink! which is more than you can say for the recordings I've heard.

They played Interludes from an opera by the Finn Joonas Kokkonen. It's unfamiliar, and I'm a lousy listener, but: I really liked it. Although written in the 70s, this music maintains a toe-hold on tonality, so that helps. Plus, it's live, which for orchestral music is rare enough to be a treat for me. Finally, I think I'm just getting better at paying attention as I get older. As I emerge from this fog I've been in for the first 40-odd years of my life, I realize how frequently I have turned off the world and retreated into my own thoughts. It's like my attention has had -- oh, what's a good word for it? -- a deficit, or something. Anyway, putting Kokkonen's effects-heavy orchestration first had the unfortunate effect of making Tchaikovsky's (Piano Concerto #3) seem thin by comparison.

Hill Auditorium is always inspiring, with its funnel-vaulted ceiling and excellent acoustics (for those who avoid the middle of the main floor). I noticed something odd: the sound of the piano was extremely directional; I could have pointed to the spot on the ceiling whence the sound reflected (30-40 feet above the right side of the stage). This effect did not happen with any other instrument or section of the orchestra. I suspect the piano lid was the culprit. It prevented the sound from traveling directly upward, so the reflective funnel or shell only came into play on the sides. Anyway, the result was fairly weird, yet not exactly unpleasant. It sure beats a dead or muffled sound.