Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA OF LINCOLN CENTER wistfully excavates the notion of displacement

• By drediman
• August 14, 2025
• No Comments

Now that Summer for the City has begun striking its elaborate set up across Lincoln Center’s campus, I thought it would be a fitting time to look back at at the continued evolution of the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center, one of the anchors of the eclectic, expansive, and refreshingly democratic festival. Once known as the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, the rebranded ensemble has been revitalized by its young music director Jonathan Hayward — now in his second year in the role (he’s also the music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra) — who has been fully engaged in re-envisioning the scope and mission of the orchestra, bringing newfound relevance to and build bridges (in multiple senses) in its programming.

This summer, I was able to attend the Festival Orchestra’s concert entitled The Music of Exile and Remembrance, which featured the music of Gabriela Lena Frank, Shostakovich, Ravel and Prokoviev. Thematically, the program wistfully excavated the notion of exile, particularly through the music of composers who themselves have experienced displacement first hand. The evening commenced with Frank’s Elegía Andina, a multicultural musical tapestry work written in 2000, setting the somber mood of the bill to come. Then came Shostakovich’s lesser known Chamber Symphony, Op. 83a, a four-movement piece that has been re-orchestrated to accommodate a larger ensemble. In a fascinating shift, the piece eschews the composer’s typical brashness and sardonic commentary in favor of sensitivity and introspection.

After the intermission, I took in Ravel’s Pavane pour une infante défunte, perhaps the most recognizable work of the concert despite — at six minutes in duration — its relative brevity. The performance was elegant and elegiac, submerging the listeners in swooning yet deeply refelctive strings. The evening concluded with a well-balanced performance of Prokofiev’s Second Violin Concerto, which was led by captivating Canadian-American violinist James Ehnes, who played with clarity, clean tones, and sturdy musicality. Under the baton of Portuguese conductor Joana Carneiro, the overall playing was precise if at times a tad underpowered and emotionally subdued (which arguably stemmed from the works themselves).

RECOMMENDED

FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA OF LINCOLN CENTER
Classical Music
David Geffen Hall
1 hour, 45 minutes (with on intermission)
The Festival Orchestra’s performances concluded on August 9