The RPO makes ‘Contact’ with Time for Three

The Rochester Philharmonic’s 2023-2024 centennial season seemed to contain an orchestral blockbuster in every concert, from the “1812 Overture” to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. (In fact, says music director Andreas Delfs, that was the plan.)

For last weekend’s opening concerts of its 101^st season, the orchestra continued the winning streak, offering the RPO debut of the award-winning string trio Time for Three, an exciting new composition by a celebrated American composer, and, not least, a very satisfying rendition of a favorite Tchaikovsky symphony.

Time for Three definitely know how to open a show. Dressed in indie-rock black and entering to cheers from the audience, these three multitalented men—Nick Kendall and Charles Yang, violins, and Ranaan Meyer, double bass —bounded in front of the RPO like the Marx Brothers pursuing Margaret Dumont, brandished their instruments, and immediately swung into action … as singers, sweetly intoning the opening notes of Kevin Puts’ “Contact.”

The vibe, with their easy rapport onstage (shown at their rehearsals with the RPO) and quick-witted, informal performing style, is more like Phish than the Philharmonic. But Time for Three’s club-kid demeanor is deceptive: each of them is an all-round thoroughly trained musician (two at Curtis, one at Juilliard) virtuoso, and in “Contact” they all had a chance to shine. (They told pretty good jokes too, though not during the music.)

As might be expected by their unusual instrumentation, their repertoire has been written or arranged just for them. That includes “Contact,” which won a 2023 Grammy for Time for Three, and another for its composer. An Eastman alumnus, Puts is one of the most popular living American composers; he won a Pulitzer Prize in 2012, and his opera “The Hours” premiered at the Met in 2022.

“Contact,” like the other Puts music I’ve heard, is colorful, unafraid of lyricism, entertaining and effective. The singing musicians, fiddles played like ukuleles, bits of improvisation, and other effects might sound gimmicky, but it’s fine, substantial music, and as the roars that erupted after its last whiplash chord proved, it’s a crowd-pleaser.

“Contact” is a marvelous virtuoso work that showcases the trio’s style and strengths to a T.  The two slow movements, with their bittersweet harmonies and sustained lines, fleetingly recall mid-century American masters like Barber, Diamond, and Copland. The two fast movements are exhilarating rave-ups; the finale is based on a Bulgarian folk tune also used by Béla Bartók. Both call for flamboyant virtuosity and nonstop energy, which are among Time for Three’s many calling cards.

“Contact” requires a large orchestra, including a hardware store-full of percussion. (An imaginative conductor should pair “Contact” with Ralph Vaughan Williams’ similarly percussion-happy and life-enhancing Eighth Symphony.) Near the end, several orchestra members put down their instruments and form a wordless chorus, repeating the opening music and bringing the piece full circle. Puts handles all these musical elements with great aplomb, and the orchestra is more of a collaborator than an accompanist.

Having performed “Contact” nearly 100 times, the soloists not only have the musicin their DNA, but also, they were ignited by the RPO’s powerful performance. During an interview, one Time for Three member described Delfs and the RPO as not only thoroughly prepared but “kick-ass,” and I agree. “Contact”and Time for Three are a natural match, and the piece exudes a joy in making music that came across effortlessly last Saturday.

Time for Three’s encores were as unexpected as their performance: the ’60s chestnut “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You,” with some impressive pop crooning from Yang and Kendall; and a touching rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” They also tossed off a bit of Beethoven’s Ninth, in homage to the golden bust of the master in Kodak Hall (stage left).

After this snazzy, pop-infused joyride, Tchaikovsky’s very familiar Fifth Symphony might have anti-climactic. But as he has done with many standard-repertoire works, Delfs and the orchestra gave this very familiar piece a direct, involving performance. The conductor chose tempi that were generally on the quick side, and paced each movement judiciously, without minimizing the composer’s emotional fervor or his memorable tunes (the reasons why audiences love Tchaikovsky, after all).

The orchestra’s playing was also memorable. In many passages that seem like studies for his sixth symphony, the “Pathétique,” Tchaikovsky revels in the orchestra’s darker colors, particularly the woodwinds: flutes in the low range, plangent oboe solos, shadowy passages for clarinets and bassoons. The RPO’s winds played them beautifully, singly (there are many solos) and as a section. Another orchestral solo, the famous horn melody that opens the slow movement, was sensitively and a bit reticently played, and even more effectively done when the horn and clarinet echoed it in a duet.

After the symphony’s uninhibited ending, Delfs and the RPO played another extroverted bit of Tchaikovsky as an encore: the “Russian Dance” from “The Nutcracker.”

David Raymond is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer. The Beacon welcomes comments and letters from readers who adhere to our comment policy including use of their full, real name. Submissions to the Letters page should be sent to [email protected].