For a moment on Friday, 16 October, it looked like Leila Josefowicz would give an encore, but it did not happen. The audience at the sold-out Concertgebouw had cheered her for minutes for her phenomenal rendition of Scheherazade.2, the second violin concerto (or third, if you are Dharma at Big Sur for six-string electric violin and orchestra) by John Adams, who himself includes the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted. After they ascended and descended the high staircase together four times, Adams gave his favourite violinist a grateful kiss on the cheek. He himself remained modestly in the background and also generously allowed the orchestral musicians to share in the applause.
The enthusiastic acclaim for the American Josefowicz was justified. She performed the extremely heavy and virtuoso solo part in this 50-minute piece from memory, with an exceptional command of the subject matter. Hounded by 'men with beards', she flogged the strings of her instrument like a fury in fast forte passages. Her tough attitude evoked images of a cowgirl fearlessly tackling a rodeo bull. Yet her tone remained flawless, without her having to retune even once.
Empowered woman
Josefowicz was the dream empowered woman Adams had in mind when he composed this concerto. Scheherazade.2 is inspired by the eponymous heroine from the Fairy tales of 1001 nights, who manages to escape her husband's killing spree by telling him an exciting story every night. Adams looked beyond exoticism. Struck by the everyday violence against women, he decided to create a modern-day Scheherazade, who does not allow herself to be tormented by religious fanatics. An update of sorts, hence the software-like title.
However laudable this endeavour, entirely successful is Scheherazade.2 not. Although Adams claims not to want to tell a detailed story, the titles of the four parts ('Pursuit of the True Believers', 'Scheherazade and the Men with Beards') leave little to our imagination. Even in his smooth, oral explanations, he left no doubt that the young heroine is besieged by zealots, with explicit references to chases and death sentences. Thus he unwittingly reduced his piece to accompaniment music.
Own signature missing
But even without explanation, Adams' "dramatic symphony" gave the impression of being composed to accompany a story. Fierce outbursts and jarringly dissonant harmonies of the orchestra are parried by anxiously hunted parts of the violin. For almost the entire four movements, an excited atmosphere prevails, broken only occasionally by beautifully hushed passages in which the solo violin spins fragile lines, accompanied by sensual tinkling of a cimbalom. Such moments are scarce, however, and ultimately the piece is too uniform to hold attention.
The same applies to the Dr Atomic Symphony, which Adams conducted before the interval. Distilled from his opera Dr Atomic this orchestral work also has a strong Hollywood feel. Adams is a gifted orchestrator, and the trumpet solo over the aria 'Batter my Heart' is of compelling beauty, but there are too few moments of tranquillity in which such memorable melodies can blossom. In doing so, the music is too similar to pre-existing masterpieces and lacks its own signature. Give me the 'old' Adams of operas like Nixon in China and The Death of Klinghoffer, in which he successfully paired minimalism with a Mahlerian sound world.
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