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Article: Graf's guest stint with MSO brings out musical nuances Conductor's performance one of elegant subtlety
- Article from:
- The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Milwaukee, WI)
- Article date:
- October 11, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1996 The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Guest conductor Hans Graf made it look easy Thursday night in
front of the Milwaukee Symphony.
The trickiest cues emerged from Graf's clear, elegant, effortless
beat as if of their own accord, as did subtle gestures that shaped
the arc of a phrase, defined an attack or shaded dynamics or timbre.
The result was playing of unusual cohesion and nuance in the
Overture to Wagner's "The Flying Dutchman," Bartok's Violin Concerto
No. 2 and Schumann's Symphony No. 2.
These qualities came at no loss in vigor. The "Dutchman" was
electric from the first note, a fierce string chord that set off a
sizzling tremolo.
Schumann's densely packed harmonies can be murky, but here they
had just the right ...