Thursday, January 31, 2008

Syracuse Symphony's Beethoven Festival, Part Deux


With its recently concluded Beethoven Festival, the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra wanted to take listeners on a three-part journey into the music--and mind--of history's greatest composer. They presented several unique opportunities that aren't usually found in concert halls--a listening station that tracked Beethoven's progressing deafness and Beethoven trivia and fact sheet inserts to the program, among others. The most original and insightful was a demonstration by music director Daniel Hege prior to the performance of the Eroica Symphony; he took listeners on a brief guided tour through Beethoven's detailed sketch books, tacking the development of many of the Eroica's revolutionary passages. Very rarely do these pre-performance talks yield anything worthwhile, but Hege's presentation was fascinating, and I think we all learned something about Beethoven's compositional process.

The music itself, however remained the central focus. After the previous weekend's ragged performance, Hege and the SSO delivered an impassioned program on Friday, January 25. The opening piece, the Second Romance for Violin and Orchestra, was perhaps not the best choice; it's calm, subtle lyricism did little to grab the audience's immediate attention. Hege and soloist Andrew Zaplatynsky, the orchestra's concertmaster, combined for a restrained yet beautiful performance. I only wish they had gone further in their reading--more expressive phrasing, dynamics, and rubato. It seemed calculated rather than organic.

Restraint was nowhere to be found in the fiery, passionate performance of the Seventh Symphony. On occasion, particularly in classical and romantic works, Hege has chosen sluggish tempos, but he stormed through Beethoven's most energetic symphony, pushing the music and the orchestra relentlessly forward. In fact, Hege nearly took a tumble off the podium following an enthusiastic cue to the cellos and basses. Even the celebrated second movement, which some conductors seem convinced is a funeral march, maintained a moderate tempo--after all, it is an allegretto! The performance's overall impact was tremendous, as Hege grabbed his audience from the introduction's first notes and only released them after the blazing finale.

After intermission, the SSO was joined by an exceptional cast of soloists for a performance of excerpts from Fidelio, Beethoven's only opera. The biggest celebrity in the cast was Vinson Cole, an international superstar who has worked with many of the world's leading orchestra and conductors, including Herbert von Karajan, Sir Georg Solti, and others. He sang an expressive Florestan, yet at 57 years old, his voice has begun to show its age, losing some of its resonance. Soprano Aimee Willis, on the other hand, was at no loss for power; she soared effortlessly over the orchestra, particularly in a stunning series of high notes. I've only lived in Syracuse for seven months, but she may be the one of the best voices to appear in this area in recent memory. Two basses rounded out the main cast. Richard McKee, the recently retired artistic director of Syracuse Opera, sang Rocco with dignity and compassion. Jimi James, a popular local singer blessed with a dark, enormous tone, was a menacing Pizarro. Janet Brown, Eric Johnson, Robert Allen, and the Syracuse University Oratorio Society performed smaller roles well enough, but compared to the command and strength of the four principals, they were merely lost in the background.

For me, this was the most impressive concert the SSO has given all season. On more than a few occasions, I have accused them of mailing it in during a performance, merely sleepwalking on stage. Likewise, Hege's energy can also wane at times. But no one could question the commitment of the musicians on this night. It was refreshing and invigorating to hear--and see--them so passionately involved in the music. Of course, with their newfound fire and passion comes a loss of tonal beauty, particularly in the brass. Much like in last weekend's Eroica, chords often turned harsh and shrill as Hege exhorted them to play with ever increasing intensity. The strings, however, seemed to find another level in the Seventh Symphony, playing with more depth and resonance than I had yet heard from them.

I've enduring several uninspired concerts, but this performance demonstrated that the SSO can do much better. They may never play with the power, precision, and beauty of the New York Philharmonic, but they can bring energy, dedication, and emotion to a piece. And when they do, the results are evident. People go to concerts to be transported beyond the concerns of everyday life and to another world entirely. We go to concerts to be inspired, and if they so choose, the Syracuse Symphony surely has that ability.

(Photo by Christian Steiner)

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Syracuse Symphony's Beethoven Festival, Part I


Throughout January, the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra has devoted three concerts to a celebration of Beethoven and his timeless music. Many classical music lovers likely grew up listening to Beethoven, developing an thorough knowledge of his music. In fact, the man sitting next to me conducted practically ever bar of the concert with his hand in his lap; he barely missed an entrance all night. And I'm sure he wasn't alone.

It begs the question, what purpose does a mini-festival of solely Beethoven's music--with the exception of a Mozart horn concerto--serve? Personally, I can't get enough. Beethoven was history's greatest composer, and I deeply love his music. Much like the New York Philharmonic, which has presented "Brahms the Romantic" (duh, could Brahms be anything but a romantic?) and "The Tchaikovsky Experience" in recent years, the SSO now celebrates a composer we all know intimately.

For me, the series is a marketing strategy, which is perfectly reasonable. To remain viable, orchestras need to make money, and Beethoven is big business. His masterpieces put bodies in seats--a major issue for the Syracuse Symphony, which has struggled with meager attendance all year. The orchestra included several attractions not typically found at a classical music concert--a clever listening station where people could hear music "through Beethoven's ears," taking his deafness into account; a pianoforte, the type of keyboard on which Beethoven performed and composed; and a wide variety of recordings of Beethoven recordings. Ideally, orchestras should present festivals spotlighting the composers we should know more intimately--Mendelssohn, Schumann, Schubert, or one of many important 20th century masters. Bard College has done this at its summer concerts, focusing on Shostakovich, Copland, and Janacek in past season. But they are well financed; orchestras like the Syracuse Symphony will continue to program based on both artistic and monetary considerations.

The performance itself was uneven. After a plodding, sluggish reading of the Coriolan Overture, pianist William Wolfram joined the orchestra for the Second Piano Concerto, a work in Beethoven's classical style. Wolfram and conductor Daniel Hege seemed in disagreement throughout the performance, struggling to establish a consistent tempo and expressive approach. I felt that Wolfram wanted a more fluid, flexible beat and phrasing; Hege and the orchestra responded with bland, shapeless accompaniment. If the first half of the concert was a painting, the artist would have needed only one color.

After intermission, however, Hege and the musicians perked up, delivering a brisk account of the revolutionary Third Symphony, Eroica . Hege brought out many details in the score, particularly in dynamics and articulation. I disagreed with many of his choices, but it was refreshing to hear Hege more invested in the music, with something specific to convey. His gestures were intense, often punching and throwing his hands toward sections, like he wanted to start a fight with them. Unfortunately, the orchestra responded with a comparable sound--piercing, ugly, and harsh. In fact, the orchestra, especially the winds and brass, played quite poorly throughout Eroica; they suffered from sour tuning, poor tone quality, and stiff phrasing. Even when Hege tried to shape their passages, they failed to react. The strings were more in sync with Hege, but their thin sound kept them projecting any dynamic range.

The Beethoven Festival concludes on January 25 & 26 with the Second Romance for violin, Seventh Symphony, and a concert performance of Act II from Fidelio.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Maazel at the Met


Forty-five years since his last appearance, Lorin Maazel finally returned to the pit at the Metropolitan Opera. And after such a long absence, he seemed intent on elongating the experience as much as possible.

Maazel, the New York Philharmonic’s music director, opened his run at the Met on Monday, January 7 with a performance of Die Walküre, the second opera in Richard Wagner's Ring cycle, in which tempos fluctuated between sluggish and glacial. Wagner’s orchestra serves an important role, commenting on the story and heightening its drama, yet interludes consistently slowed to a crawl and when combined with the director Otto Schenk’s static action on stage, they sapped all momentum. Even the wild, windswept preludes to Act II and Act III (“Ride of the Valkyries”) sounded measured and tame.

Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, in a venomous performance as the manipulative Fricka, was superb. She cut through the orchestra, revealing Fricka’s disdain for her unfaithful husband, Wotan. Overall, however, the cast was a disappointment, and Maazel’s pacing did them no favors. James Morris brought compassion to Wotan, but over time his bass voice has lost power. As Siegmund, tenor Clifton Forbis seemed over matched by his demanding role; as Sieglinde, Siegmund’s twin sister and lover, soprano Adrianne Pieczonka proved more effective, conveying youthful passion and vulnerability. Soprano Lisa Gasteen struggled as Brünnhilde, Wotan’s powerful daughter: high notes, particularly in her famous Valkyrie Battle Cry, were inconsistent, and she strained to project and sustain long phrases. As a bland Hunding, bass Mikhail Petrenko lacked any terror or darkness.

Even the Met orchestra suffered in Maazel’s hands. Following such an inconsistent tempo can be a challenge, and after a tight opening act, its performance became littered with poor tone quality and fuzzy ensemble. The brass section in particular was pushed to the limit; fatigue was likely to blame for its increasingly abrasive, ugly sound.

Maazel is one of his generation’s greatest conductors, but he seemed to be in his own world. With singers and musicians gasping for breath, he stubbornly maintained his deliberate pace. This performance should have been Maazel’s triumphant return to the Met, but his idiosyncratic conducting made it little more than protracted self-indulgence.

(Photo by Chris Lee)