The latest Baltimore Symphony Orchestra program lists only one composer, Johannes Brahms, but there really are two - as-is Brahms, and after-extreme-makeover Brahms.
The real McCoy is represented by the grandly scaled Piano Concerto No. 2, the gussied up one by the Piano Quartet No. 1, as extravagantly orchestrated by Arnold Schoenberg.
Thomas Dausgaard, principal conductor of the Danish National Symphony, brought to the program exceptional communication skills in his BSO debut Thursday night at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. The orchestra sounded polished and deeply involved, backing pianist Garrick Ohlsson with sumptuous support in the concerto and pouring on the expressive steam in the symphony-sized quartet.
Ohlsson offered both power and beauty of tone, a rare sensitivity to the innermost possibilities of a phrase. He generated terrific thunder when the gently launched first movement took its dark turn, and again in the explosive scherzo, but never for mere effect.
Everything the pianist did was at the service of the score and the multi-layered poetry behind the notes, nowhere more insightfully than in the unhurried third movement.
That movement also inspired a glowing solo by cellist Ilya Finkelshteyn. Throughout the concerto, right from the opening, gently beckoning horn solo by Philip Munds, the BSO gave Dausgaard everything he asked.
Periodically, eminent composers tinker with the work of previous eminent composers, as Mozart did with Handel's Messiah and Mahler with Beethoven symphonies, leaving purists aghast - and the rest of us greatly entertained.
Schoenberg's orchestration of Brahms' popular G minor Piano Quartet, preserves all the notes, but puts them through a prism Brahms never imagined. The military riff in the third movement takes on Mahler-worthy proportions; in the tipsy-gypsy finale, a decidedly un-Brahmsian xylophone and all sorts of other bold sounds are let loose. But it all makes sense and fully honors the original score.
Dausgaard lavished care and conviction on the piece, phrasing lyrical portions with exceptional breadth and firing up the rest like there was no tomorrow. Luckily, there is a tomorrow, when this brilliant Brahms pairing gets its final airing.
The concert will be repeated at 3 p.m. tomorrow at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St. Tickets are $27 to $75. Call: 410-783-8000.
