Utah Symphony’s newly named music director makes a mixed impression in Beethoven
The big announcement from the Utah Symphony earlier this week is that Markus Poschner, the week’s guest conductor, has been appointed the orchestra’s new music director, starting with the 2027-28 season.
The German-born Poschner is currently chief conductor of the Bruckner Orchestra Linz and the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana and has recently been named the chief conductor of the Basel Symphony Orchestra. He made his United States debut with the Utah Symphony in 2022 and returned to Abravanel Hall the following year.
Prior to the start of the concert Friday, Pat Richards, longtime symphony board member and chair of the music director search committee, came onstage and introduced Poschner to the audience. Poschner spoke briefly about how much he is looking forward to working with the Utah Symphony. He then introduced pianist Benjamin Grosvenor and the two discussed the opening work on the program, Benjamin Britten’s Piano Concerto.
Grosvenor is one of only a handful of pianists who play the Britten concerto and the work has never found a permanent place in the repertoire. Why that is so is a mystery since it’s not an unrewarding piece by any means and has everything a pianist could wish for—bravura writing in the outer movements and ever-changing textures, expressions and technical demands throughout the work.
(As a side note, the four-movement concerto, written in 1939 and revised in 1945, received its American premiere in 1948 with the Utah Symphony under Maurice Abravanel and soloist Jacques Abram. This weekend marks the first time since then that it appears on a Utah Symphony program.)
The opening movement Toccata is full of driving energy and virtuosity, and Grosvenor gave a stellar account of this movement that captured its fiery intensity while also underscoring the upbeat playfulness of the music.
The two middle movements are completely different in spirit and mood from the first. The second movement Waltz is a rather dark piece starting out softly before becoming a raucous caricature of a waltz. Grosvenor brought out the almost decadent character of the music by his well defined phrasing and articulation.
The third movement Impromptu is also dark and brooding and the soloist emphasized the moodiness of the music with nuanced expressions that captured the wistfulness and the sense of nostalgia. In the closing March the music once again returns to the restless intensity of the opening movement. Grosvenor’s account underscored the bold lines and virtuosity of the music.
Throughout the work, Poschner offered a well-balanced accompaniment that allowed the pianist to shine while also focusing on the well-crafted interplay between the piano and orchestra.
After the boisterous applause died down, Grosvenor returned to the stage and treated the audience to a beautifully expressive reading of Ravel’s Jeux d’eau.
The only other work on the program this weekend is Beethoven’s Third Symphony, the “Eroica,” which Poschner conducted without a score. His interpretation was definitely in a “Germanic” vein, firm and emphatic, favoring rather robust tempos for each movement. He coaxed precise, well-defined playing from the orchestra that could have sounded a bit stodgy but which let Poschner to nevertheless explore a finely nuanced lyricism and expressiveness in the work.
Poschner’s no-nonsense approach to the first movement allowed him to underscore the shifts in textures and dynamics with bold intensity. His reading was decisive and robust, aspects which he brought to bear in the other three movements as well.
The ensuing funeral march was defined by detailed attention to dynamics and textures and featured a full rich sound from the strings. The scherzo was lively and fluid with fine playing by the three horns in the trio section.
In the closing movement’s theme and variations, Poschner brought articulate definition to each of the variations and smooth transitions between them that allowed for seamless unity and cohesiveness.
The program will be repeated 7:30 p.m. Saturday. utahsymphony.org
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