Minnesota Orchestra breaks its bubble to enjoy a night with friends

Expanding your pod isn't a simple process. When you wish to add a handful of friends to your in-person contacts in the COVID era, there are questions to be answered about health, contacts and so forth.

The Minnesota Orchestra broke its bubble Friday for the first time in months for a pair of boon companions — a violinist whose relationship with the ensemble began almost 30 years ago and a European conductor who has made almost annual trips here since 2015.

Friday night's concert, broadcast live from Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, featured the orchestra's first guest artists of 2021: soloist James Ehnes, a product of the Canadian prairie who won a Friends of the Minnesota Orchestra contest at age 16 and has gone on to win two Grammys, and Juraj Valčuha, the Slovakian conductor who has demonstrated acute chemistry with the orchestra.

Ehnes proved a skilled hypnotist on a deeply involving interpretation of Sergei Prokofiev's haunting Second Violin Concerto. And Valčuha summoned up spring with a version of Felix Mendelssohn's "Italian" Symphony at its best when asking you to lean in for the quietest moments.

The livestream/broadcast series that the orchestra began last fall has often come off as a collection of small-group gatherings. Friday's affair felt more like a full-fledged Minnesota Orchestra concert, though it began with pieces for string quintet and quartet by imaginative contemporary composer Jessie Montgomery.

"Voodoo Dolls" was a vigorous, exciting curtain raiser, with violinists Helen Chang Haertzen and Sophia Mockler spinning scintillating solos above the percussive foundation. "Source Code" was far more contemplative, highlighted by a soulfully urgent cello solo from Erik Wheeler.

Performing from center stage amid 40-plus socially distanced orchestra musicians, Ehnes offered a Prokofiev concerto that was precise and passionate. It was most absorbing during the slow movement, but I found myself wishing for more fire from the orchestra, more of a palpable connection between the soloist and the musicians around him. Ehnes' playing was splendid, but the orchestra never caught his fire on the finale.

With the Mendelssohn, Valčuha and the orchestra were confronted with the challenge of presenting a crowd pleaser without a crowd. The empty hall may have accounted for the paucity of that freewheeling feeling of delight that can arise from the symphony's propulsive opening strains.

The limits of experiencing it via computer may have contributed to my sense that the dynamics weren't as wide-ranging as they could be, the roller coaster staying on a relatively level plane. But Valčuha coaxed marvelous music from the middle movements. The andante bore an eerie lyricism as he set down his baton and sculpted the sound with his hands. And the third movement was enriched by a fine French horn duet from Michael Gast and Bruce Hudson.

Maybe I was hoping Valčuha's energy would overcome the emptiness of the hall and sweep me up in that unique connection that an orchestra and audience can forge. But that might have to wait until we're in the same room again.

Rob Hubbard is a freelance classical music critic. • wordhub@yahoo.com