The reason why this concert was almost full was, of course, the arrival of the conductor master Zubin Mehta, an Indian conductor skilled in violin playing, and the young violinist Wang Jing in the main hall of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, who performed Brahms’s “Violin Concerto in D Major”. How could it not make people yearn for it?
My seat is in Row 5, Area D, the main hall of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, facing the “top of the hill” of the stage. As the master emerged from the door under Area F, I couldn’t see him. The performance is about to begin, and the applause of the audience in both areas A and B, like the ripples rushing towards the beach, gently and firmly “moistened” the entire concert hall. This restrained and somewhat flattering applause is dedicated to some masters who stumble towards the podium.
Before coming to this concert, I specially listened to the three Brahms violin sonatas that pianist Ke once collaborated with violinist Suk. There was no accident, as Brahms wept in the corner across the rain in the Red Mansion, the floating lights in the pearl foil, the countryside at dusk, and the Yanbo River. “After the work of the same composer and the same main instrument being the violin, and the accompaniment from a piano to a band, how can the texture of the music be completely different?”? Listen, the few phrases from the beginning of the first movement played by the band are literally spouting out!
Unfortunately, despite the fact that Zubin Mehta was literally standing on the podium, his head shaking with the rhythm of the music, and he used his baton to flick it up and down. After countless times of watching the video, I was already familiar with it, and no one could copy it in front of me. However, the musicians of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra still smashed the vigorous first few phrases on the stage.
Fortunately, Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D Major, after a complex and exciting beginning, has entered Brahms’ iconic desire to talk and rest. After a moment of optimism, it is a long and lingering feeling of sadness. Perhaps this is why it took Brahms longer to rise to the ranks of top composers? The seemingly uncertain language of music always makes those who first know his works choose to leave in a hurry after a glance. I want to say that’s because you don’t understand Brahms yet.
As the creation progressed towards perfection, contemporary composers were driven by the tide of the times to move forward quickly and towards romanticism, while Brahms decisively turned back and approached Beethoven, the god of music, in his heart, step by step, without any comment from others. This retreat on the way forward, of course, has encountered confusion and even criticism from his peers, making Brahms unhappy. So, can the unhappiness outside the home be mitigated in the home? This man, who has gone all the way emotionally dark, chose to live alone for life after knowing he couldn’t love Clara Schumann – of course, that’s what happens later.
When writing this work, he also had a close friend in the music industry, Joachim, who was the leading violinist in European music in the mid-19th century. However, the friendship between men and peers is like this. Brahms dedicated his only violin concerto to Joachim, who relied on his momentary violin skills to criticize Brahms’ works for not being the regular three movements. After listening to Joachim’s performance of Bruch’s “First Violin Concerto” and rarely saying “I can write such a work,” Brahms, in order to ensure that Joachim would perform his only violin concerto for the first time, had to delete the two completed movements and add an adagio movement according to Joachim’s modification idea. Therefore, we are now hearing Brahms’s “Violin Concerto in D Major”, There are three regular movements: Allegro, not too fast, sonata form; Adagio, three paragraph style, and lively but not too fast, game like allegro, irregular rondo sonata form. However, Brahms seems to have caused a bit of “minor mischief,” especially in the first movement of the work, which does not sound like a concerto written for the violin, but rather allows the band to sing against the violin.
The phrase written for the accompaniment part of the band in the first four or five minutes is magnificent and rich in sound, like a symphony. At this moment, the young violinist Wang Jing, who had already stood beside Zubin Mehta, seemed a bit overwhelmed. Is it not just Wang Jing? Milstein, Lepin, Shaham, Julia Fischer… The moment these violinists waited while playing Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D Major, all gave life a momentary sense of pity. “However, violinists may not feel left out by Brahms. They can appreciate it better than we on stage. In a moment, what will be conquered will be a difficult chapter for Brahms to test the violinist’s performance skills: several times using major intervals of nine or ten degrees, and even more importantly, how charming it is to solo in multiple places where the skills are very difficult. It is really a test for the performer.”. On January 1, 1879, Joachim, in the premiere of this work directed by Brahms himself, conquered the obstacles set by the composer “Little Tadpole” on the staff with a knife like mud, and achieved great success. So, what about Wang Jing? He is young and relies on endless energy to compete and harmonize with the band, making every piece of music so colorful, not to mention the colorful movements that he plays alone for a few seconds. His performance led to a somewhat fragmented band at the beginning. The first movement of Brahms’s “Violin Concerto in D Major” was so plump and thick that some fans who were not familiar with the work thought it was the entire work. The main hall of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra heard long-awaited applause between movements.
After entering Brahms’ world for a long time, music fans will know that Brahms has inexhaustible inspiration for writing. According to tradition, the second movement is a slow movement, with an adagio played by Wang Jing, which pulls Brahms’ delicate but resilient emotional line from the thickest G string to the thinnest E string, but without interruption. Is it just because of Wang Jing’s skill? It is also because Brahms gave Clara Schumann the feeling of firmness and tenacity. After hearing about Clara Shuman’s long death in a strange land, the elderly Brahms hurried on the road to meet Clara for the last time. In a hurry, he boarded the opposite train. Brahms ultimately did not see the woman he had loved all his life. Is there any more touching love story than this? I want to say, it’s music that keeps Brahms flowing deep in still water.
Similarly, Zubin Mehta was able to travel long distances at the age of 81 to give his interpretation of classical music to Chinese music fans because he deeply loves music and us. Yes, Zubin Mehta staggered from the podium to the podium over a dozen steps, but during the two hours he stood on the podium, there was no momentary weariness. Moreover, as for the role of conductor, he conducted Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony in the second half, which was even more brilliant. The scene like that made me feel like Zubin Mehta, making my night of June 9th, 2017, dotted with stars.
