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Kotova's Concerto A Rich, Complex Score / Women's Philharmonic premierescellist's workOctavio Roca, Chronicle Staff Critic Published 4:00 am, Monday, October 2, 2000
The Women's Philharmonic opened its 2000-2001 season Saturday night with a majornew work by a young woman destined for greatness.
The world premiere of Nina Kotova's Cello Concerto, conducted by Apo Hsu with thecomposer as soloist, was greeted with cheers at Herbst Theatre. It was the heart of anexciting, varied musical evening. Another world premiere, a jazzy fanfare by MargaretBrouwer called "Sizzle," was paired with Brouwer's earlier Symphony No. 1. AndKotova returned after her premiere to play Tchaikovsky's Variations on a RococoTheme for Cello and Orchestra, a rare and decidedly justified exception to theWomen's Philharmonic's all-female repertory.
Nina Kotova soloed at the premiere of her Cello Concerto. Publicity photo special to the Chronicle
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The Kotova Cello Concerto was the main event. It was just a generation ago that another young composer, Wolfgang Rihm, famouslyproclaimed that "music must be full of emotion, and the emotion full of complexity." Like Rihm in 1974, so Kotova in 2000 stands indefiance of both the emotional austerity of last century's modernism and the new simplicity of so much recent music.
Her Cello Concerto is a complex, gripping affair. And there is something else at work in Kotova's new score: a conflicted, intense love ofher Russian roots. There is respect for history in this music.
There is also melancholy. It was clever programming on the part of the Women's Philharmonic to have Kotova play both her CelloConcerto and the Variations on a Rococo Theme. Tchaikovsky paid tribute to another era in the unmistakable voice of his own. So doesKotova.
Her acid Shostakovian harmonies and surprising Stravinskian rhythms, her shamelessly sweet melodies and downright brutalresolutions all reflect an exile's undying love for a tragic land. There is nostalgia for the future in this music.
In the opening Allegro moderato, a sardonic trumpet reveille precedes a murmur of strings through which the cello enters as ifmidphrase. The unusual juxtaposition of cello and brass gives early notice of the composer's penchant for surprising tonal colors. Herjagged, heart-on-sleeve cadenza demands both superhuman left-finger technique and brave abandon.
Kotova's playing was reckless, powerful and seductive. Her vibrato was like that of a honeyed contralto with a particularly gutsy lowerrange. This was crucial, by the way. A lot goes on at once in this concerto, and it is the soloist's intensely personal virtuosity that holds ittogether on first impression.
The central Adagio is the most tightly structured movement as well as the most touching. Much of it is a long vocalise for cello, abittersweet song made edgier by interjections here and there from harpsichord and plucked strings. A rosary of little phrases near theend ushers in the final Allegro, modulating with an insistence Tchaikovsky would have recognized.
The third and last movement is celebratory, firmly tonal and playful. The cello's intricate melodies seem drenched in dance, with fiendishlyintricate scales exploiting the instrument's full range against a dizzying panorama of orchestral colors.
An oasis of an andante amid all the third movement's bravura was especially touching. Kotova's line was luscious, with lush vibrato andan almost vocal use of portamento.
There was serenity, loving patience in the way Kotova took time to let her tone blossom. The harpsichord's witty interjections emergedlike so many sparkles on the broad smile of the cello's line. The standing ovation was long, the emotional impact longer still. Kudos to theWomen's Philharmonic for bringing to life an important, ravishing score. ..
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