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Review: Finnish sensation Tarmo Peltokoski makes promising U.S. debut with San Diego Symphony

Finnish conductor Tarmo Peltokoski leads the San Diego Symphony
Finnish conductor Tarmo Peltokoski is conducting the San Diego Symphony in performances this week.
(Courtesy of Peter Rigaud)
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Classical music loves a prodigy.

A grade-school pianist who performs Beethoven? A teen-age violinist shredding Tchaikovsky? Step right up, folks! Watch them play! Buy their CD!

Never mind that adults in your city can perform the same repertory with much better musicality. Isn’t it amazing that a high schooler can play with comparable technique, only not as insightfully?

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The promotion behind Finnish sensation Tarmo Peltokoski has a similar side-show atmosphere around it. As a 22-year-old pianist, he’d be just another conservatory graduate, but a conductor? That’s precocious!

Peltokoski made his U.S. conducting debut Thursday night with the San Diego Symphony at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido. A second concert was scheduled for Friday night in Chula Vista. The program featured Mozart flanked by Finns. Kaija Saariaho’s “Ciel d’hiver (Winter Sky)” opened the program, and Sibelius’ Symphony no. 2 in D Major, Op. 43 closed it.

Concertmaster Jeff Thayer was showcased in Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major, K. 216. With silvery tone and musical poise, Thayer was a winning soloist. The second movement cadenza was breathtakingly beautiful.

Peltokoski confidently conducted, and the orchestra responded well to his leadership here.

Saariaho’s “Ciel d’hiver” was a haunting depiction of the constellation Orion slowly traversing the winter sky. Deep chords in the low strings shifted ever so slightly, while high above this the violins played an octave that drifted out of tune and back. Metallic percussion added pings to the texture, almost like stars twinkling, and the piccolo — eerily played by Lily Josefsberg — sounded a quiet melody that oscillated around three or four notes.

Saariaho ingeniously captured the experience of watching a night sky, where stars and planets move at a glacial pace. The melody that originated in the piccolo was taken up by solo violin (associate concertmaster Wesley Precourt), clarinet (Sheryl Renk), oboe (Sarah Skuster), and muted trumpet (Christopher Smith), while the sustained chords in the background slowly changed and the piano, vibraphone, celesta, and antique cymbals softly chimed. Time was suspended and yet we paradoxically ended up in a different place than we started.

For a modern composition, the rhythms are straightforward. The key to a good rendition lies in maintaining control over the balances and in the pacing of the work. Peltokoski oversaw a sensitive performance with minimal fussiness.

At intermission though, I had reservations about Peltokoski’s conducting. It was the qualification for a prodigy: he did well — for someone his age. I didn’t hear the magic we get when Rafael Payare or Edo de Waart are on the podium.

The second half was the grandfather of all clichés — a Finn conducting Sibelius’ Second Symphony. The first movement was nothing special. It was choppy, and I didn’t hear the gradual transformations of material. This symphony highlights the winds, and while they did not disappoint in the first movement, it never really congealed. Nevertheless, the moment towards the end when the brass section played as one was very impressive, although that reflected more on the players than the conductor.

However, things clicked in the second movement. There was more cohesion, more energy and the tempo shifts were very well conducted. The third movement was taken quickly, but the musicians negotiated it with verve. The buildup to the fourth movement was magnificent. The fourth movement was a triumph, as wave after wave of well-shaped sound poured out. Here the promise of a great conductor was finally evident.

Peltokoski is off to a good start, and I hope he can build on whatever lessons he learned conducting our Symphony. Bring him back to San Diego, and let’s see how he grows.

Hertzog is a freelance writer.

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