REVIEW: The young conductor from New Zealand makes a big impression in the composer’s Second Symphony, and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4.
It’s been a season of speed dating for the Pacific Symphony. Eight guest conductors have shown up, many of them first timers with the group, all – or most, we’re not told explicitly – vying for the job as the next music director. The orchestra may be in danger of the consumer in the cereal aisle: Too many choices, all of them delicious. There will be several more candidates next season.
The latest aspirant, Tianyi Lu, arrived Thursday in Segerstrom Concert Hall. The Chinese-born New Zealander, in her mid 30s, is the youngest of the would-be's so far, and the least experienced, though still impressively qualified. Among her bona fides are wins at two prestigious conducting competitions (those named for Georg Solti and Guido Cantelli); she currently holds positions in Norway and Wales, where she is Female-Conductor-in-Residence with the Welsh National Opera.
She’s also a former Dudamel Fellow at the LA Phil, has conducted that orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl, and has already appeared with many other major ensembles.
She was wonderful to watch on Thursday. Slight in stature, Lu is nonetheless a compelling figure on the podium. She possesses an agile, fluid and athletic technique. Her arms, long and limber, seem to be the key. They appear to be made of some material other than bone and flesh – rubber, perhaps, or newly sprung branches on a tree. She moves vigorously, but those movements are always clearly focused on musical expression, not showmanship.
Her main order of business last night was the Symphony No. 2 by Jean Sibelius. She led it wholeheartedly. She made it her own. Not for her that vast, bleak, frozen landscape of Sibelius’s Finland. She wanted everything to sing, legato lines and warm tones. Her phrases were beautifully connected and liquid. In the bass end of the tonal spectrum, instrumental colors glowed with richness. The strings sounded terrific.
