Serenades

I went to hear the Met Chamber Ensemble perform two Serenades, Schoenberg's Op. 24 and Mozart's "Gran Partita".   It was a wonderful concert.   Schoenberg's "Serenade" is one of my favorite Schoenberg pieces.  Written in the early 1920's, it is filled with jittery, quirky neoclassical phrases.  It's one of the pieces Schoenberg wrote as he was moving towards the twelve tone method.  It is typically dense, filled with overlapping and juxtaposed phrases, and clashing neoclassical rhythms.   The guitar and mandolin give it a special flavor, and the overall feel is a kind of light expressionism.   The performance was vigorous if not always precise.   The second piece on the program was Mozart's "Gran Partita" Serenade, a work lasting about 55 minutes (Mozart's longest instrumental work?) and scored for two oboes, two bassoons, two basset horns, two clarinets, four French horns, and bass.   It is one of Mozart's truly amazing works; more symphonic than serenade-like, and containing some exquisite writing for winds.  Heard in the intimate and clear sound of Weill Recital Hall, it was a delight.
The concert was conducted by James Levine, whose failing health has been much in the news of late.   While his beat in the Schoenberg was fairly clear most of the time, for most of the time in the Mozart he seemed to have little control over his body, his arms (and feet) waving around expressively, but with little connection to the tempo of the music.  It's a miracle that the musicians could stay together.   It was very sad to see Levine in such poor condition; you could clearly see how intensely he was involved in the music, while having very little control over his body.   I don't see how he can continue doing this for much longer.  I am sure that he can do wonderful things in rehearsals, but unless he gets better very soon, I think his live conducting career will end very soon.  It's a sad moment for a great musician.